One Eevee
by Pukachi
Summary: A story about the life of one little Eevee that closes the gap between humans and Pokémon. This is my very first fanfiction, I hope you like it!
1. Prologue

Author's Notes: Just to let you know, this is my very first fanfiction ever. I hope you like this story, cause I kinda liked writing this!  
I appreciate and welcome any comments that you may have.

Rated T due to violence, blood and gore, and suggestive themes.

Prologue: One Eevee  
---------------------

A view of our world through one Eevee...

This is the story of one little Eevee that suffered through many hardships to brighten the world's future relations of humans and Pokémon. I will tell this story to you as this has been told by the Eevee himself for many years.

This story all started in a meadow of a great unending forest in the world of Pokémon. The day was bright and blue, had few clouds in the sky, and the kits were playing without a care in the world. In this section of the great forest, there lived a large pack of what would be called Eevees and their 'evolutions' to humans. Peace and prosperity could describe these wondrous creatures. These and other species of the Pokémon race shall be called by their given human names from here on for the sake of our language and understanding, and their speech will also be directly translated to the language you see now.

---

Everyone was gathering at and around the meadow. There was a large and old tree trunk stand in the center, quite conveniently used for addressing the whole of the pack. Everyone was making a comfortable place to sit. Their two mated-for-life leaders, a more purple-tinted Espeon and a blue-ringed Umbreon, had climbed up onto the stand-like tree trunk and announced that they gave birth to their own, holding him up so everyone can see.

He shall be One.

This Eevee was quite a bit out of the ordinary, you see. Not only did he have a very strange dark marking on his forehead, but he had inherited the use of telekinetic and darkness abilities that normally are not inherited and must be learned on one's own. His parents were not worried one bit about his powers. He wasn't aware of such, however. They looked to him as quite special that he would receive their abilities immediately. Everyone stared at him with awe, and he stared back blankly.

Unfortunately, the Espeon and Umbreon parents were wholly incapable of feeding their newborn, and additionally, since they were the leaders of the pack, they regrettably had no time to raise their child like someone else would. The Espeon and Umbreon told the pack that they must turn to a mother who could feed him while he's young. Everyone looked at each other and discussed this matter, and the place had become quite noisy for a little while. The leaders hoped that someone would step up...

A Vaporeon mother, along with her two females and one male, walked up to the stand, and she volunteered to take care of their little Eevee. The leaders were delighted, and promised to try to make time to visit them every day. She also mentioned that this may work well socially, after seeing her offspring gather round One showing great interest in their new brother. He stared back at his brother and sisters blankly.

A wave of encouragement swept over the crowd, and hoped the best for the Vaporeon mother. She looked over, blushed a little pink, and waved slightly because she's not really a crowd goer.

A short while later, the audience dissipated and they went about their business. The sky was darkening, so everyone had to get ready for a nighttime meal and to go to sleep with a full tummy. The Vaporeon mother had already gone out to search for fruits before this gathering, so she and her offspring were ready to head back to their den, deep in the dark forest. She put the infant One on her back, and told her son and daughters to come back to the den.

The little Eevees were playing all along the road, running around their mother, looking at One, and tackling each other. One female Eevee, named Freya, was the brave one of the group. She's quite talkative and would get in all sorts of trouble. Her sister, Starra, is a bit older, and is one of those cautious types, and tries her best to avoid trouble unlike her sister. Their brother, Kroa, is a rather quiet Eevee and loves to sit on hilltops and enjoy the wind blowing in his face; a gentle, serene Eevee.

They came out of the deep forest, and came to a beautiful opening in the trees that displayed an underground cave opening and a river in their full glory under the warmth of the sun. The Eevee siblings raced to get back to the cave so that they could munch on the fruits that their mother picked earlier, before the pack gathering as to prevent dealing with the crowd.

The Vaporeon's mate, a gold-furred Flareon, is unfortunately a full-time guardian of the pack and is revered as the most physically strongest out of anyone else. He can't always be around to take care of his family; however, he drops by when he feels that they need him most. He just so happened to drop in front of her as she was walking towards the cave. She was quite spooked, and playfully slapped him in the face with her tail. They gave each other a passionate lick on the left cheek. The Flareon looked past his mate and saw One on her back, raising his head and making a soft squeaking sound, signaling that he was hungry.

The two parents walked into their cave carrying their newcomer, saw their own Eevees hungrily eating their fruit meal off of broad leaves to prevent dirt getting into them, and they both gave a sigh of contentment. The Vaporeon mother went to the far end of the cave where a very soft bed of leaves were set, and also a small leaf fire ignited by the Flareon surrounded by rocks. She set One down onto the leaves gently, and then laid down so that she could feed him. The Flareon father, after taking a few fruits to snack on, walked back to the entrance of the cave and stood guard over his beloved family, not sleeping a wink until dawn arrived.

This little family couldn't be happier...


	2. Chapter 1: Oncoming Threat

A view of our world through one Eevee... 

This is the story of one little Eevee that suffered through many hardships to brighten the world's future relations of humans and Pokémon. I will tell this story to you as this has been told by the Eevee himself for many years.

Chapter One: Oncoming Threat  
---------------------

Two months have passed. One is slightly older now, and so are his brothers and sisters. Their mother, the Vaporeon, is quite overprotective of all of her little Eevees. She tries not to let them out of her sight, but she knows that little ones are normally very curious at this age, and love to take a closer look at the world around them. Every once in awhile, she has to tend to wounds or hide them from something scary, and she loves to hold them safely in her grasp. She knows that she has to cherish these moments while they last.

This afternoon was quite clear. Freya, Starra, Kroa, and One were all having some fun in the gathering area. Freya and One were having some races with the other little Eevees in the pack, while Starra and Kroa sat quietly with the crowd, hoping their siblings will get the prize. The one that gives the prize to the winner says the prize is unknown, but all of the older ones could probably guess what that is...

Quite unfairly, Freya beat everyone in a 3-lap race, and even lapped over the other contenders once. She seemed to have infinite stamina, since she wasn't even tired after she reached the finish line. All of the other Eevees were exhausted, though; some of them just laid there for several minutes, gasping for air.

The prize holder, a Jolteon, said, "Congratulations, Freya! Your family wins the prize..." Freya anxiously awaited her prize, bouncing and holding her front paws out with a happy look on her face. The Jolteon went behind a tree, and a moment later he came out with a large enough piece of meat to feed her family of six full in one meal and still have leftovers. Everyone looked in awe at what he had, staring and drooling.

"You win meat!" He tossed the large meat slab into her face and she fell backward. One could hear a muffled "Hooray!" underneath the meat slab when Freya rose up her paws in success, and he chortled.

He turned and faced the other Eevees. "For being such great racers, you and your families will also get some meat, but not as much as Freya did!" Several faces pouted, but they still enjoyed going up to him to receive their portions.

A few times every year, the Espeon and Umbreon leaders of the pack go hunting to get meat for their pack's families, usually either Tauros or Miltank meat. Everyone looks forward to those days, never knowing when that'll happen. These occasions are even more special due to the fact that they only get meat a few times a year.

The Jolteon announced, "Alrighty, then! Don't eat your meat just yet if you don't think you like them; let's get some Flareons out here!" Several Flareons stepped up to him, and they turned to the crowd, eagerly knowing what's coming next. Freya gave her piece of meat to her Vaporeon mother, since she was too weak. The Vaporeon spun around, and released the meat into the air. The Flareons quickly charged up and spewed fire at the meat, roasting and giving the air a very pleasant smell, enough to make everyone drool.

The Vaporeon's Flareon mate grabbed the piece of meat since that was, of course, a little too hot to handle. "Let's go home, everyone!" His mate, offspring, and One were very delighted, and eager to run back home to feast on their never-before-tried meal.

When back at the cave, the Flareon father set his little fire at the far end. Everyone had an equally-proportioned piece set on their broad leaves, and the Vaporeon put aside some that they could save for later. The little Eevees sniffed the meat and loved the smell, but were unsure of how this would taste.

Expectedly, Freya was the first of the Eevees to lick the meat, and she instantly began diving into her piece. Her mouth full of precious meat, Freya muffled, "This tastes amazing! Better than any fruit I've ever had!" The other Eevees quickly joined in while their parents watched for them to eat first. While Freya was eating quickly, Starra was eating slower than her sister, and Kroa the slowest out of the three. The Flareon looked over at Freya and was reminded of himself when he was little.

One didn't seem to like the meat very much and shoved his piece away. "What's wrong, One? Don't you like your meat?" the mother Vaporeon said. She was quite surprised at seeing this, as there was only one other in the pack that didn't like meat.

He replied, "Nuh-uh... I think this tastes bad..." and turned his head and stuck his tongue out with a "Bleh!"

"Mommy, do we have any fruit?" He was still hungry, of course. "Of course, One..." There were some tasty fruits encased in some large, moist leaves to help preserve them, and she pulled out a few for One. He walked over to her and Freya quickly snatched his piece.

The mother saw this and said in a parental tone, "Freya... Share that piece, will you?" Freya pouted and split One's piece into three smaller pieces, but her siblings didn't want any more. Quite excited, she practically shoved all three pieces into her mouth, but they unfortunately couldn't fit. Freya still ate them quite fast, however. One went back to his seat, set his fruits down on his leaves, and began to chew on his fruits, feeling quite out of place.

Everyone finished their meal, and the Eevees gave a large, noticeable yawn. They all slowly walked to the leaf bed in the back of the cave where the parents sat, with their eyes opening and closing drowsily. Their mother laid down in a crescent shape, and the Eevees put their head on her soft body, all of them snuggling together. Their father laid close to them, using his fluffy yellow Flareon fur to keep them warm along with his body temperature. The two parents kissed, and they became drowsy themselves after looking at their Eevees sleep so soundly. The Vaporeon squirted some water on the fire, and they both went to sleep.

The family slept together happily in their cave...

---

One managed to catch up to Freya, the forest rushing past them. The sky was darkening some more, and the clouds began to drizzle rain onto the forest.

One looked over to Freya. "Freya... Do you know if the Mightyena leader came yet?" Freya nearly tripped. "I don't know, but..." She made a very fearful gasp and came to a dusting halt, after seeing something up ahead. One did the same a moment later.

Up ahead, laying in the dirt, surrounded by blood and several fruits, were the bodies of a Vaporeon and two Eevees.

In blinding speed, One and Freya dashed to their fallen mother and siblings. Many claw and biting wounds were found on their bodies, a few marks sizzling with poison. They looked deeply into their sibling's eyes, frozen in fear from their last moments. Their mother lay there motionless with her face pained in defeat.

---

One woke up with a gasping start, his blood boiling. He sat up, and looked around at his family. His mother. His siblings. They were all there. One's Flareon father was standing guard at the entrance of the cave. The night sky was glistening with stars. His father looked behind him and saw One sitting up.

His father said quietly, "One, what's the matter?" One walked to the entrance, and sat next to his father's side. "I had a bad dream again..." His father held One to his fluffy chest fur and softly rocked him to try to get him to sleep. One has been having strange nightmares for the past few weeks; he sometimes is afraid to go to sleep because of them. His Espeon and Umbreon parents are inexplicably unable to go into his mind with their psychic powers to find an answer... These nightmares seem to contain his friends or family in great peril. He always tries his best, but he always fails, and something terrible happens...

One began to doze off in his father's arms. The Flareon watched him fall sound asleep. He, too, decided to go to sleep as well. He walked to the back of the cave slowly, and set One down where he was sleeping before. The Flareon laid down in his usual position, covering his family.

They slept soundly until the morning...

---

Suddenly, the parents awoke when the day was beginning. There was heavy walking outside, and they weren't sure what kind of Pokémon that was. The Flareon stood up and looked at his mate. She nodded, and the Flareon walked towards the entrance with caution. All of a sudden, a face came out of nowhere and looked inside their cave. The Flareon was startled slightly, but was ready in a fighting pose immediately and growled. The Vaporeon sat, worried, in front of her Eevees, shielding them.

"Oh wow, a Flareon! Cool!" The Flareon didn't understand this strange language or know what this species was, and he was on his full guard. When the creature spoke, the Eevees were shifting around in their sleep. When he came closer and took just one step into their cave, the Flareon didn't hesitate to let out the maximum amount of fire he could out of his body. The creature was engulfed in flames, and he was burned to a dark crisp. The Vaporeon mother couldn't watch.

The Flareon walked over to the lifeless body, and he examined this strange creature. He only had fur on his head, and was just all skin everywhere else. How this thing had so easily been killed meant this species isn't very resilient to being damaged, being quite weak. Long limbs, paws, and body meant that they weren't a very potentially physical species, and judging from how this thing just trudged into his own family's den, he wasn't raised very proper, either. Unsure about whether or not this thing could give you sickness, he didn't want to touch him. The Flareon jumped over to a tree and tore off a large branch. After coming down, he stuck the branch through the crisp body and proceeded to carry him somewhere away from their den.

The Flareon came to a small clearing deep in the forest. He dug a very large, deep hole in the ground, and shoved the creature into the hole with the tree branch. He put the dirt over the hole, and the strange creature would never be seen again.

He came back to the den, and the Vaporeon quickly ran up to him. "Are you okay? What was that?" she said, worriedly.

He responded while looking back outside. "I don't know, but that doesn't really matter, now. I'll ask the leaders later if they know what that thing was, but let's keep this quiet, okay? Don't tell anyone but the leaders." She nodded and looked back at her Eevees laying on the soft leaves, shifting around in their sleep, signaling anyone talking to be quiet.

The Flareon's eye caught something in the grass close to where the creature fell. He walked over, and saw a small, red and white spherical object. He wasn't sure what this was, so he kept his distance for a minute or two. Afterwards, he approached the object slowly and poked the top. Nothing happened, so he picked the object up with his mouth and came back to the den.

He set the object onto the ground. "Look what I found..."

The two parents looked at the object with wonder. "What is that?" "I'm not sure, but that thing feels really weird; hard, but easily breakable, not like a rock."

The two were pretty curious. The Flareon said, "I suppose I'll have to show the leaders this, as well."

He looked at his lover. "I'll go report to our leaders, now. I'll be back soon, if you need anything..." He gave her a peck on the cheek, and she smiled. "...Love you." "You too..." He picked up the object with his mouth, and ran out of the den into the forest.

---

The two leaders were laying down in a small clearing in the forest, away from anyone else. The Espeon was laying on top of the Umbreon, both with a rather seductive look in their eyes.

Suddenly, right as they were kissing, the Flareon came out of the bushes and startled them. In a surprised tone, the Espeon said, "Ah! Flary! We're kinda busy, here..."

He blushed when he realized what they were about to do. "Erm, I'm sorry... I just wanted to report something to you two..." They both got up and sat on the ground. The Umbreon said, "What's wrong?"

Flary responded, "Well, a little while ago, I ran into this strange, tall, weak creature. I killed him and buried his body, but... I found this strange thing he was carrying." He pulled out the red and white sphere out of the fluffy fur around his neck. The two leaders immediately gasped; the Espeon quickly hid behind the Umbreon with a scared look.

The Espeon said nervously, "Umby... What would a human be doing here...?" Umby responded, "I don't know, Espy...but we have to be careful. We might even have to move the pack..."

Flary instantly had a worried look in his face, and dropped the spherical object. "Move the pack!? Just what are these...humans?"

Umby looked down. "Me and Espy have a terrible past with these creatures... You don't really want to know about them. If there's one now, there will be more later." He had a sad look on his face. "As soon as they find out that human is missing, they may start searching for him. If we keep out all humans from this area of the forest, they'll eventually just overpower us and drive us out and away from each other... Many of them lust for power over all living creatures."

Flary looked down at the spherical object in the grass. "What does this thing have to do with humans?"

Espy and Umby both closed their eyes, and said together, "That thing there...makes you a slave." Flary stepped back from the device with a scared look on his face. "How could they...?" He quickly blew as much flame as he could on the object, and there was a small explosion. He buried the bits and pieces left underground, and never wanted to see such a thing again.

Flary sighed and said quite sadly, "I don't think we have a choice in this matter... If we expose too many of our innocent pack members to these...humans, they'll unknowingly do things they will regret later..."

Espy and Umby looked at each other, and Espy said, "You're right... We probably have to mobilize quite soon." To try to brighten the conversation, Umby said, "I think Leaf will be disappointed." Espy giggled. Leaf is the keeper of their pack's fruit patch, holding most all of the food they eat; he really loves nature and does his job well.

Flary said, "When should we spread the word? This might cause the others to panic..." Espy and Umby looked at each other. Umby said, "I'm not sure...I think we should wait until another one comes through. After that, we should definitely move..." "Okay... I'll go back to my den." Flary jumped back into the forest, with Umby and Espy sadly cuddling each other, trying to purge their bad memories.

---

Flary came from the deep forest into his den area, with a sad look on his face. He looked around and saw happiness. Freya and One were wrestling, Starra was drinking from the river, and Kroa was meditating on top of the cave entrance. His mate was watching all of them just in front of him. He came out of the forest, and tiptoed softly towards her, with an evil smirk on his face. When he was closer, he slowly reached over to grab his Vaporeon. However, she grabbed his arms, flipped him over, slammed him on the ground, and fell on top of him.

She was looking him in the eyes seductively. "You know...we haven't done you-know-what in quite a while..." Flary blushed and looked over at Freya and Starra. "I don't know... The last time we did that, you gave us twins!" She giggled. "Don't worry; I really love taking care of them..." She whined and rubbed her head on his chest. "I don't want them to get older!" Flary smiled, and licked her on the cheek. "Oh, maybe we can do that later, then..."

They hugged for a few minutes, with One, Freya, and Starra standing over them and smiling. Starra said with a sweet tone and her paws clasped together, "Aww, don't they make just the cuuutest couple?" The two looked over at their Eevees and blushed.

To Be Continued


	3. Chapter 2: Darkness Wake

A view of our world through one Eevee...

This is the story of one little Eevee that suffered through many hardships to brighten the world's future relations of humans and Pokémon. I will tell this story to you as this has been told by the Eevee himself for many years.

-  
Chapter Two: Darkness Wake --------------------------

One is now five months old. He is very playful with the other little Eevees in the pack, and his caretaker, the Vaporeon, is quite overprotective of all of them, still. Espy and Umby, the biological parents of One and leaders of the pack, were always coming along to visit him, as well. Fortunately for the pack and by Umby's word, there have been no humans coming through their part of the forest, and that moment of worry has been forgotten.

Over the course of the last few months, the Eevees in One's family have been growing up to really start showing their personalities. Freya has become quite the troublemaker as of late, and is always worrying her parents. Starra is still quite cautious and afraid of the world outside of their safe den, so she usually is around their mother. She wants to be a mother, someday, too. Kroa is still a serene, blissful Eevee, seemingly oblivious to any kind of suffering. The family has found out that he cannot speak, during one night when the pack was having a roaring contest. They told him that he should've mentioned that he was mute long ago, but he didn't know what to say about that. One is a bit of a mix of all of his siblings. He loves adventure, being around his family, and calm days on the plains.

---

The four siblings along with some other Eevees from the pack were traveling in a small group in the deep forest, led by none other than Freya. They were going farther and farther from their home and many of them were getting a bit scared. They came to a stop.

"We gotta get those fruits!" Freya had commanded to the other little Eevees, and pointed to a tree chock full of shiny, juicy heart-shaped fruits that we humans call Pecha Berries. Some of the Eevees' mouths were drooling. One was a bit worried, much like Starra. Kroa was quite calm.

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea..." Starra explained. "We're a bit far from our territory, and if we take what's not ours..."

"Oh, don't be that way, Starra. We don't get these kinds of trees in our territory..." Freya has had a habit of gesturing with her paws often when she speaks. "If we can get a few of these and plant them, we could have them all of the time!" She had a confident look in her eyes.

Starra caved in. "Well...I guess you're right..."

All of the Eevees in the little group stepped up to the tree. Someone blurted out, "Now...who wants to go up there?" The tree was rather tall, and would be quite a dangerous fall if that so happened...

However, One stepped up first. "...I'll do it, you cowards!" He stood a few steps from the tree, gathered energy, and jetted up the tree almost blindly, nearly missing the branch that was close to some of the fruits. One almost lost his balance, but he calmed himself down and steadied his feet, remembering the times when he was with Kroa. He couldn't raise one paw to reach for one of the fruits, or else his balance will tip and he was certain that he would fall down. Instead, with some slow but accurate coordination using his mouth, One managed to remove one of the fruits from the tree. He looked down below, and saw that one of the Eevees was ready to catch any fruits that fell down. He let it go, and the Eevee down below caught the fruit with his tail, to make the landing as soft as possible.

As you may already know, Pecha Berries are one of the softest berries discovered; if you drop them just from your arm's length, they would get horribly bruised. Of course, the pack knew this as well, albeit if you drop most any berry from about fifteen feet from a thin tree branch, the berry would most likely be horribly bruised.

The other Eevees watched him in suspense and awe; some wondering if he would fall down, some watching his paws move ever so delicately, and some just drooling over the sight of the fruits. One managed to fell seven fruits, although one of the fruits went splat on the ground because the catcher wasn't paying attention. So therefore, they had accumulated six Pecha Berries in total, which is not very many, but they could plant them and make their own trees.

Now, One was supposed to come down. However, the moment he was getting ready to come down, a nerve struck him and he was too afraid to move. He clasped himself on the branch in fright and let out all of his emotion that wasn't shown while he was getting the berries. The other Eevees watched him shudder in fear, and couldn't stop watching him... they thought they couldn't help him at all.

"Come on!" Freya shouted. She directed three more Eevees to gather around under One's position, preparing to catch him. One looked down, and he was quite unsure of jumping down to the Eevee net. He had no choice, however. While he was looking down at them, he began to slip, and in a blink of an eye he was falling. This was unnerving to most of the little Eevees in the group, and they were scared for One just as he fell...

Freya did not fret, though. While the others were paralyzed with fear, she took in a deep breath and jumped as high as she could to catch One. They smashed together and she caught him in midair, and they both tumbled to the ground. One held onto her tightly, and opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Freya..." He said softly, with tears in his eyes. Freya grinned. "One, you can thank me later! This is just all in a day's work for a future leader!" All of the Eevees gathered around to see that One was okay, and many made a great sigh of relief, and some jumped for joy!

Their little celebration was going to be cut short, however... In the nearby bushes, pairs of yellow eyes were watching their every move...

The Mightyena pack was ready to strike.

Their leader, a Mightyena with blood red substituting the regular black fur colour, ordered his Poochyena and Mightyena cohorts to surround the young Eevee group that were a bit too far from their home territory...

The Mightyena pack, with great agility, had very quickly surrounded the little Eevee group that was crowded around One and Freya. The Eevees immediately looked around in all directions nervously, and many became terrified. Their pack was growling ferociously with the occasional bark, and the Eevees, frozen or shaking in fear, couldn't think of any way out of this situation. Freya was trying to concoct a plan to escape, but she knew they wouldn't get away fast enough, and they were all too far from anyone in their pack to come help them, and she herself was beginning to doubt their survival. Kroa didn't seem to be shaken at all, however.

One Mightyena said, smirking, "Heheh... what're you little pups doing all the way out here, huh?" and took a few steps forward. An Eevee closest to him moved back as far as he could, but with all of them huddled together, he was trapped against a wall. "D-don't...please don't hurt us!!" He was crying. The Mightyena grinned. "Oh, we won't hurt you..." He went quite close to the Eevee, put his head to the side of him, and said, "We're going to do something even better..." And licked the Eevee on the cheek. Immediately after doing this, the Eevee sat there paralyzed and shaking, and the Mightyena pack sans the leader began to drool and step slowly forward.

"Stop!" said the red Mightyena leader in defiance. "You had your fun... We don't have any reason to attack these defenseless pups." One Mightyena quickly said, "Yeah we do, we haven't had these in a while..." and was drooling and staring at the closest Eevee. The Mightyena leader shouted, "No! If we do anything to these little ones, we would no longer have any allies of our own! Their pack is the only one left, no thanks to some of you!" He continued on, and shoved aside anyone in his pack away from the Eevees, and went closer to them. "I'm sorry for causing you this trouble, but I hope you all learned a lesson about trespassing."

He softened his expression. "What were you doing here, anyway? You're just about out of your territory and into ours." The Eevees were still frightened, but calming down. Freya, with confidence in her eyes, jumped up and said, "We came here to find some fruits to eat. We noticed that we didn't have these kinds of fruits in our territory, so we had decided to pick some of our own to plant in ours."

The leader Mightyena was surprised at this confidence, and Freya immediately gained his respect. "That's perfectly understandable, but this is still our side of the territory. However, because you didn't cause any kind of harm, I'll let you go, this time." Freya and One made a sigh of relief, and so did a few other Eevees.

The leader sharply said, "Don't be relieved just yet, though; I'm going to speak to your leaders about this, and see that our pack gets a kind of fruit that grows only for them, as well." One looked over to the Pecha Berries that he picked. They were behind one of the Mightyena, still untouched and shining in the sun. One said nervously, "Umm... can we go now...?" and sat up.

The leader said, "Yes, you may. I'll be dropping by your pack's territory during the sunset. Make sure to give your leaders and guards fair warning so that I don't have any troubles coming in." He grinned. "I hope our fruits grow well for you. Farewell." He gave a motion with his head accompanied by a bark, and all of the Mightyena and Poochyena in his pack ran back into the deep forest just as quickly as they came.

An Eevee shouted, "Let's get outta here!" and sprinted off back to home. Everyone else followed, but One stayed behind to gather the Pecha Berries and carry them with his tail. There were quite a few, though, so he had trouble carrying all six.

Freya looked back after she noticed One wasn't following them. She ran back to One. She smiled. "I feel dumb for forgetting the fruits... do you need any help?" One looked down. "I-" "OK!" She interrupted him and grabbed three berries with her tail, walking alongside One.

Without looking over at Freya, One said, "You know, I thought that was pretty brave of you to speak out so well against the Mightyena leader..." Freya blushed slightly. "Aw, that was nothing! Like I said, all in a day's work for a future leader!" she said cheerfully.

One looked over at her and smiled. He wished he could be as brave as Freya was...

---

One and Freya, walking alongside each other, came to their pack's section of the forest, a rather dense part to help hide their location and to keep out the unwanted. Their father, Flary, jumped down from above. This spooked the two and they had nearly dropped their fruits when they jumped up. He said in a rather parent-like tone, "One, Freya, I hope you didn't cause too much trouble. Your siblings and friends were running in such a hurry back to their mothers..." One and Freya looked at each other worriedly.

He sniffed their fur. "Ah! The Mightyena pack...!" Freya quickly said, "Please don't tell anyone, especially not mommy... I don't want everyone to suddenly get worried about us... We were lucky to get out alive, though..." Flary looked quite relieved. "Next time, bring me or one of the other guards, okay? We'll protect you, we promise, and don't be embarrassed. I'll be on the lookout for any of them coming through here." "Ah..." Freya remembered something. "Wait, I think the Mightyena leader was going to come to our leaders to discuss this during the sunset. He wanted me to give you fair warning before he came through." Flary looked down and thought deeply. "I'm not sure if that's such a good idea, but I'll consider that and talk to our leaders." He jumped into the shadows of the forest, and One and Freya couldn't spot him anywhere. "Don't forget, I'll protect you... I am your father, after all."

They looked at each other. "Do you think the others are okay?" One said. "Mmm..." Freya looked down in sadness. "I just hope they won't be affected by this so much..." The two continued to walk into their pack's forest.

---

"Mommy! Father!" One exclaimed. His parents and leaders, Espy and Umby, were on their backs on a sightseeing hill, enjoying such sights and each other's company. They turned to the side and saw One and Freya trotting quickly toward them, also trying not to drop their fruits.

Espy looked over and said happily, "One, how are you today?" One turned around and showed them the Pecha Berries carried by his tail. "Look! Me and the others found these fruits from a tree that wasn't in the fruit patch."

Espy sat up. "Oh, how lovel-" he stopped for a moment, and sniffed around One's fur. One looked nervous. "Umm...what's wrong, mommy?" "Oh...you have a Mightyena smell on you..." The Espeon immediately looked worried. "You didn't go into their territory, did you!?" "Umm...well..." One didn't know how to explain what happened.

Freya stepped up. "Espy, to tell you the truth, we were on the border of the Mightyena territory..." Espy gasped. "We wanted to find some fruits to eat, then we found these. We wanted to get them so we could plant them in the fruit patch to add to our collection." She looked down. "We got into a bit of trouble with the Mightyena tribe, but luckily their leader let us go..." She sighed. "I think we're lucky we're alive..."

Espy's lover, Umby, sat up and asked calmly, "Was anyone hurt?" "Not physically..." Freya said, sadly. "I'm sure that some of the other Eevees were scared stiff, though..." A picture of the Eevee being licked by the Mightyena immediately popped into her head. "I hope they're alright..."

Espy hugged One tightly, and he dropped the Pecha Berries. "Mommy..." Freya said, "Espy, the Mightyena leader is going to come during sunset to talk to you two about this..." One wriggled and looked at Espy's face, full of tears. "Don't be mad at him...we were just being dumb, okay?"

Umby walked over to One and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Be careful, alright? Next time you do something like that, bring an adult, okay?" Umby scratched One on the head. "I will..." One grinned and said, "Can I go to the fruit patch to plant these, now?" Espy released One and wiped away the tears. "Okay, One..."

One picked up the Pecha Berries again, and began walking towards the path to the fruit patch, looking back towards his parents as they see him off.

"Umby, I don't know what to do..." Espy started to cry again. "I don't want to lose him..." Umby had a sad, defeated look in his eyes. "We're the leaders of the pack... If we show signs of weakness, we have no choice but to pass this honour to someone else. I'm very pained to say this, but we can't be leaders if One will drag us down..." Espy couldn't argue; they both knew that was right. One was their weakness, a possible trump card for the enemy.

Umby took his lover and they embraced. "We must talk to the leader of the Mightyena pack. If you don't think you can handle this, we should resign as leaders..." Espy looked down, and didn't say anything.

---

The sky was beginning to turn purple, and was currently getting a bit drafty. Large, dark clouds were gathering up above.

One and Freya were walking on the path to the fruit patch of the Eevee pack's forest. They weren't saying a word to each other, but their thoughts were practically racing with things to say.

They came to the great fruit patch. In every direction, you could see the many colourful trees and bushes chock full of things to eat, and parents gathering up fruits for the evening meal. There's been good weather for the fruits this summer. One and Freya looked for their Vaporeon mother, or guardian in One's case.

One and Freya looked all around, but couldn't find her anywhere. "One, where's mommy? She's always getting fruits at this time..." Freya was becoming a bit worried. Her mother was always quite a stickler for getting food back to their den on time.

One was a bit worried, too. "Let's look for her... Maybe she came here a bit early. But first, let's give these fruits to the patch keeper."

A green Vaporeon, the fruit patch keeper named Leaf, manages the fruit patch and makes sure everything grows properly. He's quite good at doing so and really loves flora, despite not being a grass-type.

Leaf smiled when One and Freya approached him. He was watering an Oran Berry tree. "Hey there, little ones. What have you got, there?"

One and Freya showed him the Pecha Berries, which were getting a bit dry for being out so long. "New fruits, I see! Wondrous! I'll find a place to plant them, right away!" He took the fruits, and happily pranced off deeper into the forest, to find the nearby river.

One watched him skip into the forest. "One, let's go." Freya broke into a run without hesitation. Because of this, One became even more worried... He managed to catch up to Freya, the forest rushing past them. The sky was darkening some more, and the clouds began to drizzle rain onto the forest.

One looked over to Freya. "Freya... Do you know if the Mightyena leader came yet?" Freya nearly tripped. "I don't know, but..." She made a very fearful gasp and came to a dusting halt, after seeing something up ahead. One did the same a moment later.

Up ahead, lying in the dirt, surrounded by blood and several fruits, were the bodies of a Vaporeon and two Eevees.

In blinding speed, One and Freya dashed to their fallen mother and siblings. Many claw and biting wounds were found on their bodies, a few marks sizzling with poison. They looked into their hurt sibling's eyes, knowing that their last moments were painless... Their mother lay there motionless with her face pained in defeat.

The rain began to come down. Freya laid over her departed mother, hugging her neck, and unable to control her emotions. One became sad, but he couldn't cry... He only sat down and curled up into himself, only hoping that this was just a meaningless dream like last time...

cough...cough

Their mother coughed up blood. They both were quite startled, and quickly shuffled over to look her in the eyes. She opened them slowly and looked over at them, with whatever strength she had left. A soft, scratchy voice came from her mouth. Although rain was pouring down, they could hear every word as if the world were silent.

"Freya... One... I need you... to save... all of us..." She let her head down. Freya began to cry again, and One didn't hesitate. "I... Freya... We have to get her back to the fruit patch and find something to help her, as fast as we can..."

She spoke again. "Ahh...are...they okay...?"

Freya checked closely to see if her brother and sister were still breathing... They seemed to be breathing fine, but...if their poison goes untreated, they'll certainly die. "Y-yes, mother..."

"Oh...good...please...take them to the patch...I couldn't forgive myself...if I let them die..." She coughed up blood and fainted.

Freya sniffled and nodded her head. With help from One, they put their dying siblings onto their backs after saying their goodbyes to their mother. They tried their best to run as fast as they could through the muddy forest.

---

With tremendous speed and accuracy, the blood red Mightyena leader slashed Espy across the side, and fell back. "Espy!! No!!" Umby quickly ran to his lover, caught, and cradled Espy in his arms.

The Mightyena leader trudged past the bodies of several slain or broken Eevees and evolutions, and sat on the tree trunk stand at their meadow. His loyal followers faced him.

He claimed this land as their own. He chuckled. "Those foolish little Eevees... They gave us the opportunity we needed. We don't need a weak race like this anymore..." The leader and all of his followers howled into the rain. Umby watches in horror as he begins to doubt the existence of the rest of his life, and tears form in his eyes as he looks into his lover's hurt expression.

With all the energy they could muster, the two contacted Flary, the strongest in their pack and guard leader of their forest, through their psychic powers. Flary is normally taking a nap at this moment in a hidden area underground.

Flary jolted awake, and burst through the ground out into the rainy forest, sending dirt and mud in every direction. Normally, rain would weaken a fire-type Pokémon, but he has trained himself to where he is not bothered by the rain at all. He dashed towards the meadow in a beeline at full speed, tearing clean through the thickest of trees and logs, hoping he's not too late.

He was there in a moment's notice, coming to a dead halt and immediately entering a fighting pose loyally in front of his leaders. Several Mightyena knew how strong Flary was, and hesitated and stepped back from him when they noticed he appeared. The Mightyena leader stared Flary straight in the eyes. Umby said, "Flary... Please, hurry, we need to save Espy..." He tried his best to stop his lover's bleeding.

Flary suddenly jumped very high in the air, and everyone watched him. He started flipping quickly, and before he touched the ground, he unraveled himself, his right paw glowing, and he punched the ground with all the force he could muster. Everyone could feel the earth shake. In front of the point he hit, a crack opened up and widened into an endless pit. Several Mightyena and Poochyena fell in, never to be seen again. The survivors ran away, but the leader had jumped off to the left of the stand right when he saw the crack. The two took a fighting stance, and they peered into each other's eyes, not blinking once for what seemed like hours to them.

The Mightyena leader made the first move, howling and charging straight towards Flary.

---

Freya and One had arrived at the fruit patch. The patch was untouched, much to their relief. The two could see that Leaf was huddled behind a tree, shaking fearfully. Several members of the pack were here for sanctuary, as well, because the fruit patch was made to be well-hidden.

"Leaf! Please, help us!" Freya cried. Leaf looked out to the two, and saw their dying siblings on their backs. He gasped. "Okay...quickly, come with me...!" He followed a path to the left. One and Freya followed him to where they could see the new Pecha berries being planted, and he was getting them ready.

"I found out that these fruits can cure the poisons inside...here, feed them two...I can plant the other four. I'll take care of them, okay?" He laid Starra and Kroa under a nearby tree.

Freya said, "Leaf...we need to go back for our mother...she's really hurt..." He looked at her in shock. "Q-quickly! Take these to her!" Leaf gave both of them a Sitrus berry. Freya and One nodded. They carried the Sitrus berries on their tails, and sprinted off back into the forest to save their mother.

---

"Heheh...what should we do with her?" said a Mightyena grunt. He stood over Freya's mother, eyeing her body. The Mightyena standing behind him replied, "Hm...it's been awhile for us, you know..." He stared down at her, and assumed she was dead. "But, defiling the dead is dishonourable. I can't do it." The other Mightyena scoffed at him. "Humph...it's not like she can do anything. She's de-" At that moment, she raised her head and let out an Ice Beam in their general direction. They managed to dodge the attack, and she wearily put her head back down again.

"Huh...well, she's alive. You still unsure about doing it?" The other Mightyena shook his head. "...I can't." He turned away and walked into the forest to meet his leader. "Humph...what a fool...missing a chance like this...!"

He walked closer to the Vaporeon, and he could see her looking at him weakly with an eye. "Alright, little missy...I'll teach you some manners...heheh..." He flipped her onto her back, and stood over her, looking her in the eyes. He couldn't tell whether she was crying or not, but it still aroused him all the same.

One and Freya saw them up ahead. "One...! Mommy!! We have to save her!" She let go of the Sitrus berry, and dashed to her mother's aid. One, without thinking, followed her. As the Mightyena was busy licking their mother's shuddering body, he was met with two fierce headbutts into his right ribs. He yelped and was sent flying about a dozen feet, plopping in the mud.

The two didn't look to see if the Mightyena was hurt. They only focused their attention on their mother laying there. "Mommy...are you okay...?" Freya was crying. She gasped. "One, the fruits...!" One jumped up and ran back to get the Sitrus berries they dropped. The Mightyena, in pain, tried to get up but to no avail. He watched them just ignore him completely, and quickly became angry.

One quickly shoved the Sitrus berries to his surrogate mother's mouth, both him and Freya watching her every movement. She took the berries into her mouth and chewed slowly. A moment after she gulped, several of the wounds on her body healed, but not all of them. She seemed to calm down though, and her breathing was returning to normal. One and Freya let out a sigh of relief and hugged their mother. She was still weak, however, and she struggled to get up. She couldn't stand, and fell back onto her side in the mud. They rushed to her side again.

"One...Freya...thank you...I can take care of myself..." She finally fainted in exhaustion. One and Freya looked at each other in sadness. They both looked at their mother, and they tried to lift her up. She was much too heavy for them to lift up or even carry, they realized. One suddenly jumped. He had forgotten something.

In a moment's notice, the Mightyena they had attacked before had attacked One with his sharp claws. One didn't quite dodge in time, and was cut over his left foreleg. The Mightyena landed and stumbled on his right side. He coughed up blood, but turned around and looked at One with ferocity. Freya was too scared to move, after seeing what the Mightyena had done to him.

The Mightyena was trotting up to move in for the kill, but suddenly, another headbutt had met his left ribs. One was in far too much pain to look over and see if the attacker was Freya, but she was still standing by her mother's side. The attacker was his previous partner Mightyena.

The attacker's partner fell into the mud, presumably dead after such a brutal ramming attack. He looked over at the two Eevees and the Vaporeon and had shown a sad look in his eyes. He slowly walked over to Freya.

"You, Eevee...I know this may surprise you, but...I'm on your side. I never agreed to cause all of this..." He looked down sadly at Freya and her mother. "But, we shouldn't hesitate. I will carry you all to safety. Just tell me where to go..." Freya hesitated, but she knew she had no choice. Even if she led him to the fruit patch, it would be relatively safe with everyone else from the pack around. If she declined, she knew that One and her mother would either become ill or even die...

Freya nodded. The Mightyena loaded up their mother and One, and Freya jumped onto his back and grasped her arms around his neck. She proceeded to show him where the secret fruit patch was, and they galloped off into the fog of rain...

To Be Continued 


	4. Chapter 3: Parallax

A view of our world through one Eevee...

This is the story of one little Eevee that suffered through many hardships to brighten the world's future relations of humans and Pokémon. I will tell this story to you as this has been told by the Eevee himself for many years.

Chapter Three: Parallax  
-

Freya was riding on the back of a friendly Mightyena, with One and their mother laying on their bellies, fainted and bleeding. The rain was still pouring down, and the forest was filled with water and mud. Freya was extremely worried about the condition of her entire family, and she was about to lose hope for all of them...

The Mightyena leader and Flary jumped away from each other. Flary showed little to no injuries, and merely had a short slash across his right cheek. The Mightyena leader appeared to not be doing so well, however. Numerous burn marks, claw marks, and blood were found all over him. He was losing.

'Damn...' he thought to himself. 'If only we knew...of this one's power...' The last thing the Mightyena leader saw was a bright, yellow and red object, resembling the sun, coming straight at him. He simply ceased to exist from where he stood. No more pain, no more suffering.

Flary slumped to the ground, exhausted from the battle. He rested for a few moments, letting the soft, cool rain fall on him. He had managed to stand up, checked his cheek wound, and looked around. His leaders had left to go to the fruit patch to heal themselves, and he was all alone. He immediately realized something. With any strength he had left, Flary ran as fast as he could to get to his family's den. Despite being one so strong, Flary couldn't hold back any tears as he came out of the clearing and into the forest full of rain, worrying about his loved ones.

Freya and the friendly Mightyena had reached the edge of the fruit patch and the road was thinning. There were guards sitting near the entrance, protecting everyone inside. Freya was hoping that everyone had made it safely to this haven, although she had doubt...

They ordered the Mightyena to halt. The Jolteon guard was beginning to brim with electrical sparks. He angrily said, "Hey, you! How did you find this place! Get out!" Freya yelled out to him, "It's okay, he's a friend...if it wasn't for him, all three of us would probably be dead..." Freya's eyes were a bit teary, although one couldn't tell if it was her or the rain. The Jolteon guard hesitated, but eventually he calmed down and said, "...Even if you're friendly, we can't allow you in..." The Mightyena nodded. "I understand. Take the girl and her family. I'll wait here." He crouched onto the ground, and Freya jumped off. The guards took One and their mother into the fruit patch to be healed, and the friendly Mightyena stood again and jumped into the drenched forest.

Freya looked around. All she could see around her was sadness. Many of the pack members, young or old, were injured or crying or just sitting by themselves trying their best to think of happy thoughts.

She thought, 'This is terrible...how could I have let this happen...' Freya began to feel tremendous guilt hit her in the chest, and she could hardly stand out of dizziness. She instantly remembered that she left her other brother and sister here, and went to run off to ask Leaf how they were doing...

She asked around for Leaf and her missing injured siblings. Freya eventually came across Kroa, however. "Kroa! I'm so glad you're okay!" She gave him a big hug, and he silently hugged her back with a petit smile. "Where's Starra? Is she alright?" He nodded, but he had a really worried look on his face, still. "What's wrong?" She looked into his saddened eyes deeply. "Ah...Mother and One are injured a little...but they'll be fine, now... Take me to Starra, I need to see her." He ran off to a direction, looked back, and went off again. Freya proceeded to follow him into another section of the patch.

Flary stopped running for a moment. He caught a scent of his family members in the mud. He sniffed around, and also smelled blood. This made him feel even worse... Suddenly, he stopped. He smelled a Mightyena nearby in the bushes.

He lept to attack, but all that he came across was a broken and bloody corpse. Flary took a closer look at the body, and found that a powerful attack was made to this Mightyena's side...one large enough that no one in their pack could do except for him. He suddenly had a glimpse of hope in his eyes, but he realized that he shouldn't get his hopes up too high... Flary jumped back onto the road and followed the scent of his family members along with a Mightyena's that seemed to mix with it.

"Damn them...ugh..." Torvus coughed up some blood onto the steel floor of the cage. "What did I do to deserve this...? All I was doing was defending myself, and suddenly one of our own brethren puts me into this state... Damn those humans..." He rested his chin on his front paws.

All Freya could do is sit there and watch her injured Mightyena friend suffer and complain of his hatred for the humans. She constantly asked herself or anyone listening if there was a savior out there for them...

"Hey...you're awake!" Leaf was standing over a healed One. He sat up, but Leaf gently pushed him back down. "Hey, now...you need rest. Your mother and siblings are alright, too. I'm glad that you guys got back in time." Leaf gave One a nourishing fruit to get him to relax and rest a bit more, but after that dream, his mind was quite tense... One thought to himself, 'What's a human, anyway, and what did they do to Freya and that Mightyena...?'

He dismissed the thought, and decided to try and get some sleep, but only after quite a while due to noisy disturbances of the overpopulation in the fruit patch. He hoped that it will be safe once more.

What seemed like only a moment later, his parents were standing over him. Espy said, "Oh, One...I'm glad you and your family is alright...I was so worried." Espy's injuries were fully healed, along with Umby's. "Everything's alright, now. Everyone will be able to head home after we clean up a little." Umby reassured their peace, and One was relieved. He suddenly felt very relaxed, and began sleeping peacefully, his parents watching over him with great smiles.

Freya and the friendly Mightyena were talking outside, but still in the tree's cover from the pouring rain.

"Thanks for all of your help...I can't thank you enough. Really..." Freya couldn't stop thanking him for saving her family members. "I'm glad that I helped...I never wanted this to happen to anyone... War is such a needless thing..." He looked down in sadness, and Freya could tell that he is a bit experienced...

"Hey...maybe when things cool down a little, you could visit us, sometime?" She was making her first friend outside the pack, and she wanted him to be memorable. "Sure...I'd like that a lot. I don't really have a pack to go back to...I guess I could try to find anyone leftover. I hope one day that we can live in peace." He started to walk away. "W-wait!" Freya trotted up to him. "What's your name?" He grinned. "My name's Torvus...yours?" "Freya." "Well, Freya, I hope we meet again. You're a brave one, you are..." Torvus ran off into the foggy rain, Freya finding herself caring for one that may be an enemy.

Suddenly she saw a brownish figure on the road running towards the fruit patch. She recognized the figure after a few seconds...

"...Father!" Flary came to a halt in front of Freya, and quickly reached down and held her tight. "Oh, Freya...is everyone alright...?" Freya could sense a hint of crying on him, but she didn't want to embarrass him. "Everyone's fine...we're okay." He looked at Freya and smiled. Flary put her on his back and walked into the patch's main area. Everyone in the patch was happy that this entire ordeal was finally over, thanks to Flary, Espy, Umby, and a Mightyena named Torvus...but no one would know about him, and Freya would keep it a secret as long as she could.

One woke up in the middle of the night in the safety of his den, with his beloved family members surrounding him. The rain had stopped, and the air was filled with a wet fur smell that he didn't particularly like, and wrinkled his nose a bit. He was a bit sore after the whole experience in the previous day...but at least everyone turned out okay. However, suddenly, One felt something odd, something he's never felt before. He couldn't explain the feeling, really. The feeling passed, but unfortunately for him he was left with a slight headache.

One heard someone outside trudging through the grass. He didn't want to move, in fear of someone seeing him. He decided not to take a look around, and besides, he has his mother and father to protect him.

One heard several thuds and clunks. Seems like that previous someone was doing something out there... He decided to wake up his father by biting him softly on the ear and tugging.

Flary looked at him in the eyes and said drowsily, "Oh, One...what is it...?" Flary's ears twitched, and he knew what One was worried about. Flary slowly stood up, and began to sneak to the entrance of the cave. He could sense some heat coming from a nearby source, he guessed it was some kind of fire-based Pokémon doing something out there. He kept his guard up, just in case.

He slowly peeked out of the side of the cave opening where he would be able to see the source of heat. He saw the a small fire burning some wood, similar to his little light sources that he uses in his cave for his family, although he uses durable leaves. However, a human walked up to the fire and sat next to it. Flary immediately began to panic, and feared for the safety of his family. Not knowing what to do for the moment, he merely cooled himself down and decided to observe the human and the other Pokémon with him.

Flary looked back into the cave, and saw that One decided to try and get some more sleep, much to his relief.

He looked back out again. The human was wearing these weird flat but bendable things over his skin except for his face, Flary assumed would keep the human warm and provide minor protection. The human also wore something similar on the top of his head, with a little thing protruding from the front. Although Flary was somewhat afraid of this human, he became interested, although not for his own good. Flary kept his watch on the human.

The human pulled out a large object from where Flary could not see. It seemed to constantly make a strange ruffling sound that was quite unnerving. Flary became more curious. The human covered his entire body with it, presumably for more heat and protection. Flary then heard a long, erratic sound coming from the object that was even more unnerving than the last one. The sound was a bit loud, and he even looked back to see that his little ones were moving around in their sleep. The sound stopped in a moment. The human looked comfortable inside the soft object, and Flary could tell that he immediately fell asleep.

Flary didn't want to get closer to the human. He also wanted to alert his leaders, but then he would have to leave his family, and that's the last thing he would ever do... Flary decided to stay awake through the night to keep an eye on the human and also his family...

To Be Continued


	5. Chapter 4: Traction

A view of our world through one Eevee... 

This is the story of one little Eevee that suffered through many hardships to brighten the world's future relations of humans and Pokémon. I will tell this story to you as this has been told by the Eevee himself for many years.

Chapter Four: Traction  
-----------------------

Flary was still watching the human attentively. He was a bit afraid to get closer. However, when Flary stepped out for a moment to get a slightly closer look, he spotted a Growlithe sleeping in the grass next to the human. He was quite surprised that he was so distracted by the human he didn't search for any other scents. Flary wasn't sure what to think about this...but he made sure to keep a close eye on both of them.

---

It was a bright and sunny morning. One leapt out of his bed and was instantly awake with anxiety for what's going to happen today. He jumped onto the beauty desk, turned on the bright lights around the mirror, and began to apply several different makeup products to his face and body. He was quite a pretty Espeon, who anyone would be sure to fall for. He could never seem to cover up that mark of his, though...

---

One shuffled around in his sleep. Flary looked back and guessed that One was having a nightmare again, and sadly sighed... Flary looked back at the human and his apparent, non-slave companion. He watched them as much as possible, without falling asleep, although he was exhausted from all of the fighting he had done recently.

Flary thought, 'They don't seem to be doing anything...maybe if I just close my eyes for a moment...'

---

It was a bright and sunny morning. The human suddenly made a big yawn which startled Flary from his sleep. He immediately looked back into his cave, and was relieved to see that everyone was alright. Flary looked back at the human, who seemed to be waking up. His Growlithe companion was gone, possibly to fetch the food for dawn.

This human had strange, blue...head-fur drooping over the sides of his head, and although Flary didn't know humans very well, he guessed that he was quite young. The human looked around the forest, scanning the area, as Flary was sure he couldn't get a good glimpse in the darkness. He hid behind the cave wall as the human looked around, although still keeping an eye on the human.

Flary heard the Growlithe bark "I have food!" and run up to the human, carrying a fresh assortment of fruits. The human looked down on him and scritched his head as he took a few and began to eat one at a time slowly.

The human, uttering the strange language unknown to Flary, said, "Thanks, Growly!" Growly said, "You're welcome!" and Flary deducted that the human was thanking him.

Flary had no idea what to think of this human. He was a companion to this Pokémon, and this Pokémon seemed to be a companion to this human. This seems completely different as to how his leaders explained humans to him a while ago.

As Flary was peeking out of the cave to spy on the two, Growly received a scent and began to look in Flary's general direction. Growly took a defensive pose and began to slowly walk towards Flary's cave. Flary retreated into the cave and stood guard over his family, although he wasn't too worried. The Growlithe seemed to be fairly young as well as the human was, so he was probably inexperienced.

"What is it, Growly?" the human said. He responded, "There's someone over there..." and pointed to Flary's cave. The human took a step back, and said, "Growly, let's not start any fights...I just want to find the next town, okay?" Growly didn't respond, and slowly walked to Flary's cave. Flary heard the Growlithe's clumsy footsteps and confirmed his inexperience.

When Growly peeked into the cave, Flary was sitting only a foot in front of Growly. Growly yelped and jumped backward, but assumed a fighting stance and began to growl. Flary only looked blankly. "You, young one...you may have the spirit of a fighter, but do you have the body of one?" Growly began to get frightened, and hesitated at the way Flary was looking at him. The human watched on, but decided to run in front of Growly and block him from Flary.

"Don't touch Growly!" Growly was surprised, and Flary stared up in disbelief. He supposed that there were more to humans than meets the eye. Perhaps he should give this human a chance...although staying on guard, of course. Flary stepped over to the human slowly, not seeing either of them as a real threat, but keeping a proud expression to let them know how confident he was against them.

Flary said rather smugly, "You two are strangers in this forest...if you're friendly, I suggest you exercise caution. Our pack doesn't deal with outsiders so easily, especially after something that's happened recently..." He turned around and started to walk back into the cave, but saw that One had woken up and was peering outside. The human saw One and made a surprised look on his face.

"Hey...that Eevee has a weird mark on its forehead..." Although Flary couldn't understand the human, he knew what he was talking about. He was hoping that the human wouldn't get too curious about the matter. "One, go back inside..." One stayed at the entrance to their cave. "Father, I wanna meet them...I know we shouldn't welcome strangers into our part of the forest, but why is that? Shouldn't we take any chances we can to make friends?" Growly sadly stated, "Me and my human friend have been alone for a long time...we don't really have anyone else but each other...We just travel from place to place and hope that we can find somewhere to stay..."

One came out of the cave and walked towards the human and Growly. "Hi, my name's One! It's nice to meet you..." Growly walked up to One and greeted him back cheerfully. "I'm Growly! My human friend is James. I hope we can be friends...!" Flary watched on as One took his risk, and James calmed down and smiled as the two apparently had a friendly greeting. He only wished that he could understand them. At least Growly knew his language.

James knelt down and put a paw on Growly's head. "Growly, could you ask that Flareon if we can stay here?" Growly nodded and looked over to Flary. He bravely stepped up to him and asked, "Can we stay here for a little while? We're just travellers and we don't know where we're going... We'd like to find another place with humans." Flary looked down at the young Growly, and thought for a moment.

"I'm not sure about that... Like I said before, our pack isn't so accepting of outsiders...especially to a human, who only our leaders and myself have encountered before..." He thought of the human he had killed days earlier. "My leaders say that humans are self-obsessed, controlling, and destructive." Flary looked up at James, still talking. "However, seeing you get along so well with your own human companion, makes me think that their encounters with humans have only been bad ones. I suppose I can let you two stay here, on the condition that you keep to yourself and stay hidden."

James was confused. There was a lot of talking and he wasn't sure what to think. Growly turned around and looked at him, smiled and gave an assuring bark. James smiled back at him. "So we can stay? Great!" James ran over to his satchel sitting next to the burned wood that was a campfire. He grabbed a scrumptious Pinap berry and walked back over to the group. "Here...you can have my favourite berry, as a sign of our friendship!" With his outstretched palms, he offered the berry to Flary, albeit nervously. Flary never saw this kind of berry before. He sniffed it and took a big lick. Suddenly his tongue tensed up and felt like it was shrinking, and he made a cringing face as his tongue quickly sank back into his mouth. Flary had never tasted a sour berry before, but he immediately liked it. He made a short bow to James with his reassurance that the gift was acceptable, and James smiled. Growly said, "That's James's favourite kind. I'm glad you like it, too!"

Flary took the berry with his mouth, and had set the berry in front of One. "Try this...it's got a really interesting taste!" One was skeptical, but he decided to take a lick, anyway. He made the same gestures as Flary did, although with his more sensitive taste buds, One shook his head side to side. "Whew...that's..." One decided to lick the berry some more, with the others smiling at him.

"Flary..." His Vaporeon mate was at the entrance to their cave. "What's going on?" She had a definite look of worry on her face. Flary said reassuringly, "Come on out...we have some new friends!" He gestured her to come out. "You should wake up the others, too, I think they'll like them." She agreed after a moment. About a minute later, Freya, Starra, and Kroa came out with tired looks on their faces, but Freya and Starra's eyes lit up when they saw James and Growly, and immediately became curious. Kroa looked indifferent, unsurprisingly. They all walked toward the two and began to exchange their greetings.

---

"Damn!" A Mightyena made a fierce slash at the ground, knocking dirt and grass every which way. "That leader of ours...he was a fool! How could we have been so blind? They're much stronger than we are..." He was pacing around, now. Several other Mightyenas and Poochyenas were laying on the grass in a dark area of the forest. Tired, hungry, and hopeless. their pack was reduced to shambles and they didn't have much spirit left in them. "Makes me wonder if he even did it on purpose, that bastard..."

Another Mightyena spoke with a calm voice. "Calm down. We're still alive, and we can change. All we need is time to heal our wounds." He stood up and looked around at his pack mates. "We just have to be careful...any other neighboring packs may soon get word of all of this and decide to strike while we're vulnerable. We can't let our guard down, but-" "Torvus!" A different Mightyena jumped up and growled at him. "You're always seeking that easy way out...are you just a coward!?" Torvus walked over to him, and glared his bright blue eyes straight at the other. "We will all die if we do not work together. The moment we separate ourselves, we're just becoming easier targets for the other packs to get to us. Pick us off, one by one, they will...the pack will become no more. Do you want that?" In a few moments, the Mightyena he was talking to scoffed and looked away in pride, but accepted his situation nevertheless.

Torvus looked back around at the pack and stood proudly. "I will accept the responsibility of the leader of this pack from now on. Right now, we need to salvage any food supplies that we can. Gather a day or two worth of food at the usual place for emergency. Clear out all caves and secret areas owned by killed pack members. As for myself, I will be performing the ritual...you know what to do." Everyone stood up attentively. "I will meet you all when the sky begins to redden. Good luck." Torvus yelled, "Let's go!" and the pack broke off in all directions with a bark. As he was sprinting through the forest, his thoughts came back to the Eevee that he met a few days ago. 'Freya was her name... I may have to speak to her again...'

---

James found out that Freya's weak point was a very soft scritching behind the ears. She relaxed to the point where she seemed almost asleep in the grass while he did so. "Heh, I wish I could know your names, if any..." He looked over at One again. "Say...could you tell me why that Eevee has that weird thing on its forehead?" Growly translated the message to them. Everyone just made a confused look at One, who was just as confused. No one knew, really, and James got the message. "Hmm...never seen something like that before...I wonder..."

James pulled out a red-coloured, rectangular device out of his pocket. Flary's family looked at it curiously. James opened up the device with a click, pointed at One's general direction, pressed a few buttons with accompanied beeping sounds, and a voice from the device spoke in a straightforward tone. "Eevee. Evolution Pokémon. Feline. Type not known or within parameters. PokéDex upgrade recommended." James scratched his chin in thought. "A new type of Eevee, maybe..." He folded the device closed with a click and was put back into his pocket.

Growly looked over at One. "James says that you might be a new type of Eevee, different from any other!" One made a confused look on his face. "Hmm...I wonder if that has anything to do with this thing on my forehead...I always wondered if I was different from the others." He prodded the mark.

---

Torvus sat calmly on a tree stump with his eyes closed, deeply breathing in and out in a slow pace. He was in a small cave enclosed by solid rock, with a hole in the ceiling to where the sunlight shines perfectly onto the stump. Sitting on leaves of equal spacing, several of his Mightyena pack members watched as he began to clear his mind and become calm. He looked into the sky, the rays of the sun beating down on him. At a moment's notice, his pack members began a deep, but audible, continuous howl. Torvus scans the sky in all serenity as dark rainy clouds suddenly block the sun. Cold rain began to fall into the cave, but none faltered in the slightest, not even Torvus who was becoming drenched. His packmates gave one more howl.

Suddenly, a blue bolt of lightning came from the dark cloud and strikes Torvus in an unending blinding light, making everyone stop howling to cover their eyes. He cringed from the pain but stood his ground, knowing this is what he must do for the good of the pack. He stands up proudly and faces the cloud, and the lightning retreats back into it. As hastily as they had appeared, the clouds dissipate and the sky is bright again.

Torvus watches the clouds dissipate as his packmates recuperate from the flashing. His fur was much different from what it was before. Now, on the black section of his fur, is a large navy blue single diamond pattern that runs all the way down his back to the tip of his tail. His black paw markings have also turned a navy blue. His packmates stare at him in awe as he steps down from the tree stump, weakened from the ordeal. One of them brings him some fresh fruit, but he declines. "We need to get to work..." Torvus begins to limp to the entrance with his packmates watching, but he regains his strength in a few minutes. Torvus's newly-claimed guard resumes their duties with him.

---

James had just finished telling his story of how he got here as Growly translated it. Running away from home, fighting for survival, almost dying during the cold season... Most of Flary's family couldn't believe that James would leave such a life of luxury among the human world, but they assumed he strived for more than getting everything he wanted. The Eevees all loved to hear the story about him, and the parents were pleased. Perhaps they had misjudged the human species as a whole.

"Ah...I know! To celebrate meeting new friends, I think this would be a good time to eat this..." James digged into his pack and pulled out a large sealed plastic bag containing four pre-cooked steaks. All of the Pokémon, even Flary, looked attentively at the bag. He waved it around teasingly as they kept their eyes on it. He opened the bag and a very drool-causing smell filled the area almost immediately. Flary stepped up to James and bowed, and James got the idea that Flary wanted to heat the steaks for everyone. While that was being taken care of, James went through his pack and pulled out several paper plates. Flary's family looked curiously at them. He set one plate in front of the little ones, one for the mother, one for Flary, and one for him and Growly. They soon realized these objects were similar to their broad leaves at home that they eat on, to prevent dirt and dust from getting in the food.

He placed a steak on each plate. James said with a smile, "Well...let's dig in!" Growly barked, and everyone began tearing into their share like fierce Mightyenas, except for Kroa and One, of course. Kroa only chewed slowly, enjoying his meal contently, but One doesn't like meat at all.

James and Growly looked over at him while chewing their pieces. James said, "Don't you like steak?" Growly translated, and One only looked down. "Oh! I know..." James digged in his pack again and brought out several assortments of berries, and gave them to One. He happily ate them as their parents looked on at James's kindness.

To Be Continued


	6. Chapter 5: Expedition

A view of our world through one Eevee... 

This is the story of one little Eevee that suffered through many hardships to brighten the world's future relations of humans and Pokémon. I will tell this story to you as this has been told by the Eevee himself for many years.

Chapter Five: Expedition  
-------------------------

The sun was beginning to set. James and Growly were playing with their newfound friends for most of the day. All of them shared their likes and dislikes with each other, and learned much about the other. Everyone was preparing for nightfall, and proceeded with their routines.

"Flary..." While they were preparing their evening meal, Flary's mate made a worried look on her face as she looked towards her lover. "You haven't told anyone else, have you?" He did not. Flary believed that finding and playing with a human was taboo with all of the bad imagery that the leaders have given the pack by now. If anyone else found out, they may be separated from the pack, and to ruin his mate's and his offspring's futures is the last thing he wants to do. He shook his head slowly and made the small fire at the end of their cave. He knew that he had to at least tell the leaders...perhaps they will understand. He decided he would sleep on the decision.

Meanwhile, Freya told her siblings that she wanted to go back to the fruit patch because she forgot something, and went alone. The others didn't mind her going by herself in the least, although sharing what she was planning to do would mean that she would not able to go where she was going. When she was out of sight from her family, she veered into the deep forest and began to run along a different path. This area of the forest was quite dense, and it was hard for her to make out where she was going, but she remembered every checkpoint that she made along the way. In a few minutes, she came to the base of a tree. She dug at it slightly, and found the hole she was looking for. She crawled inside without much effort, and tumbled through a tunnel going downward. When her footing was regained, she shook off her dizziness and looked forward. She was now in a small cave. There was a small tree trunk with a Mightyena's back facing her. There were blue markings on his black fur, which Freya found strange.

"...What took you, Freya?"

---

"Hey, what's that on TV?" A geekish purple-longhaired teenage girl with glasses and blue and black clothing was quietly resting inside a Pokémon Center when she spots a news bulletin appearing on a nearby TV screen. Some others turn their heads to take a look as well.

"...this young boy, age 14, was last seen going into the forest at the outskirts of his hometown. His parents have been waiting for him to come home or at least call for nearly seven months. He was a Pokémon Trainer that was well-traveled, so if you see him, call this number..."

"How sad...I wonder if he got lost in the forest forever? You've heard that story, right"  
"Nonsense. I doubt he would"  
"I would hate to get lost in a forest"  
"Seven months? Can he survive that long"  
"And to think it happened in such a friendly town"  
"I wonder if there were Pokémon there"  
The girl was thinking about the young boy. She could have sworn she's seen that boy before, when she had passed the town on her Pokémon Trainer journey. She decided to go back to the town to investigate. 'I think I'll go back to that town. I would hate for something like that to happen to such good parents...' But in reality, she's always loved a good mystery and decided to pursue it. Her journey has been rather boring lately.

---

Freya walked up to Torvus as she was examining his new features. "Hey...you look a lot different from what I remember." Torvus turned around to greet her. "I'm the pack leader now. All of the leaders in our pack get a special marking on their fur. You remember the previous leader, correct?" She did remember that the previous leader had blood-red fur instead of the usual black, and nodded. "Well, it appears as though I was given these dark diamond markings along with my black fur. Good thing it didn't all change, because I've always liked my black fur." Freya smiled. "You don't have to worry about anyone coming here, I can trust my pack to uphold their word. I've met with them before coming here and they seemed to be tending to their duties, so you can rest easy." Freya sighed. At least one worry was eliminated.

Torvus stood up and motioned her to the tree stump. "Let me show you something...sit here." Freya nodded and jumped onto the tree stump and sat down. "What's so great about it?" Just as she finished speaking, she notices the moon shine right above her, the rich moonlight shining straight down on her from a clear twilight sky. She didn't notice the hole when she was above ground...how can this be? She wasn't about to think about how this was possible as she was smitten with the beauty of the moon directly above her. She couldn't stop staring upwards.

"Wow...this is..." Torvus looked at her and saw the moon reflected in her large bewildered eyes, the moonlight casting a wonderful light over her fur... Torvus jerked his head away to the side suddenly. 'What am I doing...she's still a kit...!' He shook off this moment of distraction and spoke. "This place is where the ceremony is held to initiate the new leader." Freya looked at him straight in the eyes with the moonlight still pouring down on her, and again he had to overcome his feelings. "How does your fur change like that? Do you use berry juice?" "Err... No, it's rather complicated and I can't share the ritual with anyone other than our pack members..." Freya understood.

She looked up at the sky again, and the moon was starting to pass by. "Do you ever just come here to look up at the sky? Just to appreciate the beauty of it?" Torvus smiled. "Yes...I'm glad someone appreciates this as much as I do. No one else in the pack finds an interest in it. They believe it's a waste of time, but I come here often to relax and to clear my mind. Some of them could really use it, that's for sure..." Freya giggled. "I think that my little brother could spend a lot of time down here. He could probably see the beauty more than I can." "Why is that?" She looked back at him. "My brother, Kroa, seems almost connected to nature. Whenever he's not busy with something, he's always on a hill or somewhere high up where he can see everything happening to the horizon. He loves to do it mostly during sunrise or in the middle of the day." The mere thought of doing it had relaxed both of them. "Hmm. When we can get more time, I wanna hear more about your family." "Of course!" She smiled.

"Hey...can you keep a secret?" Torvus smiled. "What do you think we're doing now?" Freya was being serious. "No, this is something you should keep as a secret until your life is threatened!" That attracted his attention. "I promise I won't tell anyone..." Freya stepped closer to him and motioned him down to lend his ear so she could whisper. She didn't want any stray ears to pick this up.

Freya spoke as soft as she could into Torvus's ear. "Have you ever heard of...humans?" Torvus pondered for a moment. Keeping his voice equally down, he responded in a whisper. "I believe so, but only in stories. I get mixed signals from those stories; sometimes the humans destroy, and sometimes they help. I've never seen one, though." Freya, even quieter now, said, "We met one at our den..." Torvus jerked back from Freya. He wasn't sure of what to think. "What did...it do?" She softened her expression, which calmed him down. "The human was really friendly, actually...in fact, his most trusted travel companion is a fellow Pokémon, and they get along very well. His friend can even understand the human language." Torvus looked puzzled.

"And although he doesn't say it, I know my father is still cautious with the human around... He had a very comfortable and warm thing called a...'sleeping bag'. I rested in there for awhile, but my father wouldn't let me sleep in it." Torvus was as curious as any would be. "Do you think I could meet this...human?" "I'm not sure...he's rather young, and he might be frightened by such a big Mightyena. We're much smaller and look less menacing, you know?" Torvus chuckled. "Heh, I guess you're right." Freya giggled. "Besides, I'm not so sure how my family would react to the Mightyena leader suddenly showing up at our enclosure." Torvus smiled.

He gave his regards in a more serious tone. "I'm sure someday our packs can be allies. Looks like we're the only ones that can pull it off." Freya looked up at him and smiled back. "Yeah, I hope so! I think I should get back home, though. They're probably worried about me. I told them I went to get some fruit." "Be my guest." He pointed to some that were stashed away in the corner of the cave, and Freya went over and picked up a few. "One more thing, before I go..." Freya motioned for him to lend his ear to her again. However, instead of whispering, she gave him a soft lick right on the left cheek, which is a sign of attraction. She ran off to the cave entrance, leaving a puzzled, and blushing, Mightyena behind with a paw touching the spot where she licked him.

Both Torvus and Freya found a body of water to wash off each other's scents in. Hopefully no one will find out about this encounter. Torvus smashed fruits around the cave so that no one will figure out that an Eevee was there. And no one did find out about their conversation, at least to their knowledge.

While bathing, the thought of Freya washing herself under the moonlight popped into Torvus's head. 'Guh...am I really falling for her?' Meanwhile, Freya was thinking about getting home and wondering if she'll be in trouble for being out so long. Whenever she thought about the lick on Torvus's cheek, she couldn't help but be overcome by embarrassment.

---

The purple-haired girl was at the bus station buying a ticket to head to the town of the missing boy previously mentioned on the news. "You're just in time before we close. Identification, please." She brought out her PokéDex, pressed a few buttons, and the device projected her picture and identification as she showed it to the clerk. "This PokéDex belongs to Lorelei of the Sevii Islands. Manufactured and assigned by Professor Oak of Pallet Town." "Good enough for me." They made the transaction and she received her ticket to Cerulean Village. "Be careful out there, it's getting late."

Lorelei walked back to the Pokémon Center. Her Pokémon are more than likely all better by now. She couldn't help but think about what happened to that boy from Cerulean. The forest they were talking about on the news was a gigantic forest that spread for miles and miles starting from the north of Cerulean. The forest is off-limits to everyone as it is more than likely populated by Pokémon undisturbed by humans. She has heard of some that venture in, but never return. She usually just dismissed them as horror stories, but Lorelei may find out the truth. The excitement of such mysteries never ceases to amaze her, and she smirked at the thought.

Lorelei reached the Pokémon Center and talked to Nurse Joy. "Your Pokémon have a clean bill of health!" She smiled and showed Lorelei the tray containing her Poké Balls. She thanked Nurse Joy as she took the Poké Balls, put them on her belt, and walked out of the center.

She was on her way back to the bus station and decided to go ahead and buy a bottle of lemonade for the trip from a nearby vending machine. She was going to stock up on supplies here, but thought that since Cerulean was a much less populated area than Saffron City, it would have much cheaper prices than this place.

When she was getting close to the bus station, she noticed there was a fierce Pokémon battle going on between an Arcanine and a Rhydon, and they were making quite the scene. Ducking behind a corner as she didn't want to get involved, she peered around it and saw someone in all black clothing controlling the Rhydon. 'Team Rocket...! I should've known! Heh, bad luck for you to be using a Rhydon...' Lorelei came around the corner and encountered the Team Rocket grunt with his back turned. He heard her running towards him and turned around. She reached into her coat and onto her belt and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Hey! Stay out of this or else!" Lorelei didn't listen, of course, and threw the Poké Ball. Out came a Dewgong, ready to fight. "Alright, Dewgong, let's turn them into a giant popsicle!" The Rhydon and Arcanine stopped their scuffle with their attention on the Dewgong charging an Ice Beam. The Arcanine quickly jumped out of the way as the Rhydon was hardly fast enough to move away. The Rhydon, with the Rocket grunt next to him, were frozen within seconds with defeated looks on their faces.

Just as she returned her Dewgong to the Poké Ball, Officer Jenny pulled up on her motorcycle next to Lorelei. "Good work, miss. I'll take care of these thugs, so you can go about your business." Lorelei nodded. That was one thing she never thought about. Perhaps the boy from Cerulean was captured by or reverted to Team Rocket? It could happen. As for Team Rocket activity in the area, she wasn't so surprised since Saffron was the biggest city in Kanto, which usually goes hand-in-hand with higher crime rates. She couldn't shake off the feeling that Team Rocket was planning something big this time, though.

Lorelei boarded the bus headed for two other destinations and had quickly fallen asleep on the comfortable ride with a minimal amount of passengers.

To Be Continued


	7. Chapter 6: Memories

A view of our world through one Eevee... 

This is the story of one little Eevee that suffered through many hardships to brighten the world's future relations of humans and Pokémon. I will tell this story to you as this has been told by the Eevee himself for many years.

Chapter Six: Memories  
-----------------------

"Prepare for trouble"  
"And make it double"  
"To protect the world from devastation"  
"To unite all peoples within our nation..."

---

One jolted awake. He's never had a dream so strange as this one. The human that he saw to the left of a giant red symbol and another human seemed to look familiar to him, though. His dream was beginning to escape his memory, however, so he began to dismiss it.

The sun was just beginning to rise. It cast a lovely red and purple sky from beyond the horizon, and the way it shined through the trees was making One feel relaxed enough to fall asleep again. James had already left their den area to go to the next human town. They exchanged their thanks before then, of course. Perhaps they will meet each other again someday.

When One walked out of the den to greet the day, he noticed Kroa was already on top of the entrance and was appreciating the beauty of nature. One jumped up next to Kroa and decided to watch the morning appear with his serene brother.

Today was a special day for their pack. Every six months, any Eevee who thinks they are old enough may choose an evolutionary path and begin their duties in the pack, or they may venture off to see the world. Many Eevees were excited about this day, because then they get bigger and get to have elemental powers like the grown-ups. One wasn't so excited about it, however. He liked to be small, but he knew that eventually he would have to evolve. He decided he would evolve at the next ceremony.

"Kroa, what do you want to be?" He looked at One coolly and thought for a moment. He pointed a finger and poked it right above One's dark mark, and drew a circle on his forehead. "Oh, you want to be an Umbreon?" He nodded. There weren't very many Umbreons in the pack because Moon Stones were rather rare. More often than not, the pack gatherers wouldn't be able to find any. The same goes for Sun and Cold Stones. If any stones that the Eevees wanted weren't available at the time, they would have to wait until the next ceremony. They can still choose to be Eevees if they wanted, however. It is an uncommon occurence for that to happen.

About three miles away was a deposit of such magical stones inside of a cave. The pack gatherers always grab the common ones, that is, Fire, Thunder, and Water, but the rarer ones they make sure not to take so many, because one day they'll all be gone. They also make sure not to take any Eevees along on the journey because they might accidentally evolve while carrying them, a previous accident.

One and Kroa watched their family walk out of the den below them. Freya was still asleep and was on their mother's back. She spent quite some time with Torvus, after all. They didn't see her come back before they fell asleep themselves, so they don't know how late she was out.

Their mother spoke. "Alright, everyone...let's get cleaned up for the ceremony today. I trust you to make the right decisions..." Like the typical mother, she didn't want to let them go, but she knew it was their decision and wiped a tear away. Freya only mumbled. One and Kroa jumped down and walked with their family to the river that was within sight. Everyone, even Freya who was still waking up, bathed themselves. Their father dried everyone off with radiant heat and their mother made sure their fur looked smooth and wet down any stray fluffing. The day was warm and cloudless, a perfect day for a gathering.

---

Lorelei woke up before the bus finally reached Cerulean Village. She sleepily walked off the bus and into the bus station. She decided that the first thing to do was to check in at the local inn, and then head to the missing boy's parents' house to gather information. She popped open the bottle of lemonade and responsibly threw away the bottlecap in the nearest waste disposal reticule. Unfortunately the lemonade was getting warm, so she didn't enjoy it as much.

Walking along the side of the dirt road, as there weren't any sidewalks yet, she made sure to enjoy the scenery while she was here. Lorelei has always loved this place because of how much they were connected to nature here. This village has been self-sufficient for generations, making sure that they try to stay out of becoming a large city and destroying Pokémon habitats around the area. Because of this, the air is fresh, the forests are lush and plentiful, and the people that live here are friendly. She took in a great breath of air and loved the freshness.

Lorelei arrived at the inn. Unfortunately, there wasn't a room available... She thanked the clerk and paid her respects before leaving to head to the home of the missing boy. She turned back and talked to the clerk at the counter before she got to the door, because she hadn't known where that home was. The clerk made a sad face and gave her the directions to the house. They live rather close to the northern forest, which was convenient for her. She walked down the road and then the bike path to her destination, all the while surveying and appreciating the environment while it lasted. While walking along the path, she formulated a plan that just might get her a free night's stay...

---

At the gathering area, Espy and Umby were making their announcement under the clear blue sky on the announcement stump, with their entire pack watching them, families sitting together and the guard on post. The fissure that was split into the ground by Flary was fixed.

Countless evolution stones were piled up behind the leaders. The two used their psychic powers to help project their voices. "Welcome, everyone!" "I hope you all will make the right choices today!" "Don't forget, you don't HAVE to evolve if you don't want to." "It's totally up to you." "Now then, who's first?"

Freya, expectedly, ran up to the stump first, and Espy giggled. "Freya, you're first, I see!" "What would you like to be?" Freya thought for a minute. She had resolved what she wanted to be beforehand, but now that the time has come, her nervousness was overcoming her and her thoughts were becoming chaotic. "Hey, calm down, now..." Umby touched a paw to her forehead. His rings glowed for a split second, and she began to calm down.

After a deep breath, she exhaled, and said, "I wanna be a Flareon, just like my father." In the audience, she could see her father smiling proudly. Umby put a big smile on his face as well. He's known Flary since before he met Espy, and to have a daughter that's practically just like him made him think about old times. He shook off his feelings for a moment, and returned to where he was. He picked up a Fire Stone from the pile, and gave it to Freya. "Close your eyes and imagine yourself as a Flareon..."

Just as she closed her eyes, the stone glowed a bright white with Freya following shortly. While glowing white, she grew and grew as she was evolving into a Flareon, with the audience watching and the little Eevees in awe. After a few seconds, the glowing stopped and she was a young Flareon with dark red fur and fluffy yellow neck, forehead, and tail fur. She looked at her paws, and her tail, and fluffed her neck fur which was much fluffier than it was before.

"Hooray! I'm a Flareon!" she shouted with glee, and she hopped up and down and hugged Espy. Just when she did, she started to feel a curious sensation coming from within her. "Hey...I'm feeling warmer than usual. Is this my fire?" Espy nodded. She gave a deep breath, trying to feel the flame within her, and tried her best to expel it. A short stream of fire erupted from her mouth and into the air. Many of the young ones in the audience oohed and aahed. Freya was amazed with her new power, her smile as wide as her eyes were. 'I'll definitely have to train with father later!' she thought.

Flary was reminded of his evolution when he was little after seeing Freya, and spoke to his mate. "Hey...remember when we first met? We evolved just so we could be together..." She giggled. "You're right...I still don't regret it after all this time, so you don't have to ask." He rolled his eyes and she gave her mate a passionate lick on the cheek.

The day continued and everyone practically reacted the same as Freya. When One went to his real parents and told them he wasn't ready yet, they understood and just gave him a big hug and their loving regards; although, some chatter was going on in the crowd when he was doing so, making him and his parents a bit nervous, but they pretended like nothing happened and One went back to his second family.

When it was Kroa's turn, Espy read his mind and after a moment, said "He wants to be like you!" to Umby and giggled. Umby smiled. "Do we have any Moon Stones...?" He dug through the pile, but couldn't seem to find any. "Sorry, Kroa..." But Kroa didn't falter. He walked up to the pile and pointed at the only Moon Stone in the pile hidden from view, careful not to touch any stones. "Oh! There it is. Sorry about that. They look too similar to Leaf Stones." Kroa bowed and forgave him. He put a paw the stone held by Umby and the usual evolutionary glow occured. When the evolution was complete, Kroa looked at his paws and the rings that he could see and made a petit smile. "Welp, no one can read your mind anymore, so try to work on that body language!" However, Espy could tell by looking into Kroa's grey eyes that he was thankful as he nodded silently and ran back to his family.

Starra slowly walked up to the leaders after Kroa had returned. Espy smiled. "Ah, another of Flary's kits? What would you like to be?" Starra was being quite nervous. She said quietly, "I wanna be a Vaporeon...like my mommy." Espy couldn't help letting out an "Aww..." when Starra blushed out of nervousness. Espy grabbed a Water Stone and handed it to Starra. She evolved, looked at herself, and really liked her bright blue and smooth and soft skin when she poked it, and especially liked her long tail. She thanked the couple and ran back to her family. Her mother gave her a big hug and let out a tear when Starra returned and mentioned she wanted to raise a family like her.

The evolutionary gathering took the time out of most of the day, and, by tradition, the children that evolved gather the evening meal to show their love and responsibility for their family. One was the only Eevee that didn't evolve, and he felt a little depressed. Before he left to go to the fruit patch, he stayed with his real parents that were waiting for everyone to leave the gathering area.

"Don't feel so left out, One... We respect your decision to stay as our little baby" Espy picked up One and cuddled him close, and One hugged back. Umby snuggled close to Espy and said, "You can always wait until we do this again during the cold season, One. Don't get down, now." Just as this little family was getting comfortable, Espy and Umby sense something watching them in the far trees and look in the direction of the being and begin to growl. Espy sets One down in the grass, not removing eye contact from the trees. "Stay here, One..." They begin walking side-by-side towards the disturbance, with one watching nervously from a distance.

"I think they've noticed us, Growly...we might as well show ourselves...I don't want to run away and get caught by them..." Growly whined, but he understood. James and Growly stepped out of the trees and into the open. Espy and Umby both gasped, and Espy, in fear, hid behind Umby who took a fighting stance and growled. Espy shuddered and quietly said, "A h-human...!" James tried to stay as docile as possible, and sat down in the soft grass to show that he isn't afraid nor is he hostile, but Umby kept his eye on him. However, he and Growly recognized the Eevee that was running up to the Espeon and Umbreon in front of him.

"Mommy...father...I know this human!" Espy and Umby looked back at One momentarily with surprise in their eyes. "He came to our den...he was really friendly. He gave us food and shared stories of his travels with his best friend." One pointed to Growly.

"Growly...that's the same Eevee from before, right?" Growly stepped forward and spoke, despite his fears. "Please, don't be mad at us...we were just passing through and saw that your pack was having a good time, and we were just curious...we'll leave as soon as we can, really!" One reassured them. "Even Flary was beginning to like him...we played all day yesterday, and he even gave us meat..." Espy and Umby believed One's words about the human, at least, for now.

Suddenly, to everyone's surprise except Espy's, Umby spoke in the human language. "I suggest you leave...you'll regret staying here if you stay any longer. I'll take your friend's word that you'll leave the forest as soon as possible." James, Growly, and One stood looking at Umby with a bewildered look. James takes a step back. "I...I will! I promise!" He and Growly then ran back into the forest.

Espy begins to relax and hugs Umby and One together. One was confused. "Father, how do you know human language?" Umby looked down in sadness. "Someday, One...we'll tell you of our experiences..." Espy began to form tears. One couldn't help but be curious and feel sorry for their obviously bad experiences... "Now, One, go to the fruit patch with the others. We're going back to our den, okay?" One walked to the direction that the rest of the pack went. He took one look back at his parents, but then continued on with a sad look in his eyes.

---

"Thank you for the information. I'll try my hardest to find your son, I promise." Lorelei was sitting in a comfortable armchair at the house where the missing boy had lived, and she and the parents were enjoying the evening with some hot tea. "We really miss him...please, find our son, we beg of you."

Lorelei finished her tea and stood up, grabbing her pack and turning to the door. "I should be going now...it's getting late..." "...Wait, Lorelei, was it? Would you like to spend the night here? We really appreciate your kindness to us." She smirked as she knew she could get a free room here with the right cards played, and turned around with a kind smile. "That's really nice of you. I really appreciate your kindness as well." The parents smiled. "There's a spare room upstairs to the right. Please enjoy your stay. You like ice-type Pokémon, right? We have a cool pond in the backyard in case any of your Pokémon want some fresh air." Lorelei nodded and headed upstairs to the spare room.

When she opened the door, it was a simple bedroom with a bed in the corner and a three-shelf bookshelf in the opposite corner, and a dresser in the corner to the right of the doorway. A nicely-woven Eevee rug was covering most of the hardwood floor in the center of the room. Overall, the room was simple.

Lorelei dropped her pack on the floor at the end of the bed. She takes off her black-and-white tennis shoes and blue vest showing her plain black shirt, and falls back on the bed. Her body was exhausted, but her mind was still active. It took her a minute until she realized there wasn't a blanket for her to use. Just as she did, the mother showed up at the door with one.

"I wove this myself, just as I did the rug on the floor." She unraveled it to unveil an Eevee smiling contently right at Lorelei with all the colours of the Eevee rainbow around him, and she couldn't help but smile. "I like it! You're great at making these." She gets off the bed, takes the blanket and spreads it onto the bed. "You like Eevees, do you?" The mother nodded. "They're the cutest little things. I only wish I had one of my own." Lorelei thanked her and she left the room, and Lorelei closed and locked the door after her.

Lorelei decided to get comfortable, and took off her dark green cargo pants and unveiled light blue panties. She grabbed a Poké Ball off of her belt while she fell to sit on the bed, and juggled it a little bit while thinking. "Eevee, huh..." Lorelei was thinking of the day when she first got her Eevee, close to when she started her Pokémon Trainer journey.

Lorelei pressed the button on the Poké Ball, and it enlarged. She pressed it again, and raw energy popped out onto her lap, and formed into a Glacieon. Her Glacieon gave a little mewing sound, and Lorelei smiled and petted her on the head. "Hey...I was just thinking about when we first met." Lorelei moved and laid down on the bed with her head on the pillow. She put her Glacieon on the side of her, and hugged her close while scratching her softly around her ears. It's been awhile since Lorelei had reminisced. She's usually busy solving one mystery after the next. Lorelei was about to ask her something she remembered, but her Glacieon is an easy relaxer, and simply fell asleep under Lorelei's caresses and scritches. Lorelei smiled and decided to follow her example as it was best. She got up and slowly pulled the blanket from under her sleeping beauty and took off her glasses and put them in her pack. She climbs into bed, casting the soft Eevee-themed blanket over both of them, and hugs her Glacieon close despite the cool body temperature. She falls asleep within moments.

---

"Umby...when do you think we should tell One?" "Perhaps when he asks and is sure he is ready to know the truth." "What if anyone else asks or finds out?" "I'm not sure...but we shouldn't worry about it. Let's just get some rest, okay?" "Umby...there's probably a human settlement nearby, isn't there?" Umby was silent. "I read the human's mind...he was heading to a town that was next to this forest. I'm worried..." "Don't worry, Espy...I'll protect you, just like I always have." He reassured his mate with a strained smile. They cuddled each other and went to sleep on their soft grass bed in their private cave.

To Be Continued


	8. Chapter 7: Live to Tell

A view of our world through one Eevee...

This is the story of one little Eevee that suffered through many hardships to brighten the world's future relations of humans and Pok?on. I will tell this story to you as this has been told by the Eevee himself for many years.

Chapter Seven: Live to Tell  
--

Lorelei woke with a start. Her Glaceon was snoring audibly next to her. She was annoyed for a moment that she woke her up, but she soon realized she could hear people talking downstairs. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she was curious all the same. She decided to get up, put on her pants and glasses, and go downstairs to investigate. That is, after she rests her eyes for just...a moment...

"How far have you travelled, young man?" The lady was talking to a young boy that came in wanting a place to stay off someone's good will. "I can't say, but I've come from really far away..." "Ah, so you're a Pokémon Trainer, hmm?" He shook his head. She looked concerned. "Did you run away from home?" He looked down. "Yes... my parents probably don't even know I ran away, though... they're really crazy." She softened her expression. "That doesn't sound like a very good reason..." "I'm not finished yet... it's like they're caught up in their own little world all the time, and it's like I don't exist sometimes..." He took a cup of hot tea that she poured and sipped it, easing himself. The lady only looked on. James looked down at his tea after sipping it. "They were going to arrange a marriage for me for a girl I don't even like, and separate me from my friends... Growly is all I have, now..." Growly looked up at him and whined. She felt helpless. For a young boy to make such rash decisions, there was no way she could convince him to go back home.

"Oh, forgive my rudeness! I didn't get your name!" He apologized, as well. "Sorry about that. My name's James, and this is Growly..."

--

One woke up in the darkness. He could feel the cold sweat on his body, and it wasn't just his imagination. This dream seemed more vivid, more real...and judging from his past dreams...

Flary looked back into the cave. He could see One sitting up and sniffling. Flary spoke as softly as he could. "One, come here..." One stumbled slowly towards the cave entrance. When he got there, Flary looked into his wet, bloodshot eyes and picked him up, cradling One in his arms, snuggling him into his soft, warm chest fur, rocking ever so slowly. One began to calm down and eventually, he fell asleep again.

Flary watched One as his breathing returned to normal and his face gave a relaxed expression. Flary only became saddened. Ever since One was tiny, he has had strange nightmares. He talked at length to his foster parents and real parents about each incident, but they're unsure what to make of it. They know that he has psychic abilities, which may explain the strange images, or even precognitions. However, with all dreams, there is no absolute truth in what the dreamer beholds.

Flary observed the clear, twilight sky. Now, with his siblings upholding the duties and responsibilities of the pack, One won't be able to enjoy time with his family as much anymore, with Flary being the guard leader, and the mother busy tutoring her kits, One won't have anyone to turn to. The stigma from One's original prejudice since his birth still lingers on within the pack, those too afraid or too insecure of One's apparent abnormal inheritance.

Flary has decided... He's never been able to spend much time with his family, always guarding, working, fighting... He believes it may be close to retirement. No doubt he is getting on in years, and he's found himself lacking in his abilities for the past year. He looked down at One again, sound asleep, and grinned slightly. He knew this was the best way to prove his worth.

"You'll never be just one anymore, I promise..."

--

The morning came quickly for Flary, reflecting throughout the night about his and One's future. The day was cloudy and gray, but Flary was in high spirits. He has completed the ritual and vowed to protect One until death.

After the three siblings left, Flary had given the news to One and his mate, and his mate was speechless. She could only hope that One doesn't leave any time soon. One never heard of such a thing such as this. Flary explained it to him with a grin.

"Normally, you are only told about this when you come of age to evolution, or give to the pack greatly. Only those who are ultimately willing to give their life to the one they choose may do this." One looked up at Flary in awe. He wasn't sure what to say. "The ritual I have performed binds us together not as one, but myself like a protective barrier around you, One. I have a special, spiritual connection to you... One, I'll stay by your side, always."

Flary picked up One and cradled him in his arms. "I...I don't understand..." "One, you are a special Eevee... I've known it, your parents have known it, and I'm sure you have wondered the same... Your parents strongly believe that someday, you will accomplish something great..." One looked bewildered. "But what can I do? I'm just a little Eevee in this big old world that I know nothing about..." Flary smiled. "One Eevee can make all the difference. I'm sure you'll come to this conclusion yourself, someday."

Flary's mate smiled softly. For him to do something so reckless, yet so loving... She loves him so, and doesn't want him to leave her side, but can't help but think to reassure herself that there is no doubt in his mind of One's potential. She stepped over to the two to hug both of them lovingly, with tears in her eyes.

--

"Tch, our alleged leader. You have heard about his 'secret meetings', have you not?" A frustrated Mightyena was pacing back and forth in a dark section of the forest. The area was made even darker with the ominous clouds above. If one were to look around the area, they would only see eyes gazing back at them...

"Yes, why is that? Did we not just fight against them? Does he want to start another war by fraternizing with the enemy?" An inquisitive one merely stood still pondering over his thoughts. Another one spoke. "You are sure he is meeting someone during the night? Maybe you are a bit confused-" The angered one spoke again. "No! I saw that Flareon with my own eyes! I do not know what our leader is planning, but it cannot be for the benefit of our pack!" "Or what is left of it...without him, I doubt we would be standing here. I believe in him, for the time being." The rest of the pack began to think of what their new leader has done for them, and what their old leader hadn't done for them.

"I believe we should trust our leader. We have a duty to fulfill, after all..." The accusatory Mightyena only scoffed. "We shall still keep an eye on him, however, just in case..." "It will not be easy." "Yes, after all, he is our leader, most definitely well-trained." "It is unanimous. Let us work together to perform this espionage."

As they discussed their plans, Torvus was nearby, hidden in the dark brush, undetected. He only hung his head. 'I do not understand... They seem so intent on keeping to themselves... It will be their undoing...' He leapt into the darkness.

--

"Tell me about your dream." Flary and One were laying together, alone, on the leaf bed in their cave with their fireplace ignited. The sun was high in the sky, lightly blocked by clouds, and it was eerily, though peacefully quiet outside. Flary was laying on his back while One laid on Flary's chest. One began to try his best to remember the events that transpired within his dream.

--

His breathing was fast and heavy, but he calmed down for the sake of preventing himself from being caught. He went behind a tree and waited for them to pass by. After he couldn't sense them nearby anymore, he exhaustedly sat down on the grass. He managed to get a good, long look at himself this time... Was he really...? This couldn't be possible, he thought. How did they do it...? He was afraid to leave the forest, not in his condition. He will simply have to wait for Flary to come... He yawned and massaged his face in exhaustion and simply sat and waited.

--

Flary gathered his thoughts for a few minutes. "One... Did something happen to you?" One couldn't remember, shaking his head in frustration. His dream, or possibly premonition, was fading. Flary laid his head back, worried about what may happen... But he reminded himself, and One, that "It's just a dream... Even if something does happen to you... I'll be there, I promise, One." Flary stroked One lovingly. One just looked away with a sad expression and laid on the leaf-bed to rest.

Flary laid next to him, deep in thought. He only felt helpless towards One's predicament.

--

Lorelei was relaxing on a bench while her Pokémon played around in the local park. She had overstayed her welcome where she had spent the night before; eating all of their food was probably not the best idea, but at least she's completely full now. She sorta felt guilty about it. Oh well. While her Pokémon played in the lake, Lorelei remembered when she first came here for the Cascade Badge. Oh, how easy it was... She simply froze the pool they use to disable their Pokémon considerably...

Just then, she saw something relatively odd. There was an Umbreon behind the park bench looking around at the edge of the park. This wasn't an average Umbreon, though; this one appeared to have blue rings instead of yellow. Lorelei was wondering if this Umbreon belonged to a trainer, but more importantly, she believed this to be a rare Umbreon indeed. She got up and walked towards the Umbreon slowly.

"Hey, there, little Umbreon... Are you lost...?" The Umbreon backed away a little. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you... I just wanna help!" She kept a happy expression throughout. The Umbreon watched her attentively, but after a moment, ran off. Lorelei was disappointed that she couldn't get to know where this rare Umbreon came from, but at least this helps prove the theory of oddly-coloured Pokémon she thought was ridiculous at first. She walked back to the park bench and sat down to wonder what some other Pokémon would look like in other colours.

--

'Hmm... The humans around this area are still quite the same... But that girl... She was interested in going to our forest...' Umby was sitting in the shade of a large tree in the Cerulean Village park, observing the inhabitants. 'I only wish Espy were here, having psychic abilities more potent than mine... possibly even erase any notion of coming to our forest entirely. But there's no way I could convince my dear to interact with humans again...' He thought about the horrible experiments and torture Espy had to endure years ago. Umby still gets chills just from thinking about it. He saw every moment... Remembered every scream... Espy...

He shook it off. He began to feel a little better as he saw two young Skitty playing in the grass, and remembered what his duty was, to investigate the village for the sake of his pack. So far, the only threat was the fact that the human that was killed by Flary a while back came from this village. It may pose a problem... Umby stayed a little longer to watch the innocent young Pokémon frolic in the field. It was times like these that he felt at peace...and he cherished every moment.

To Be Continued


	9. Interlude α

Interlude Alpha  
--------------------

"My word! Someone! Take care of this riff-raff!" An aging, finely-dressed woman was looking to her side, scowling downward at a somewhat dirty-looking Eevee helplessly pawing at the draping tablecloth, with an irrepressible look of hunger in its eyes. A nearby waiter heard the call and rushed to her side, hands clasped and attentive. "May I help you, miss?" "Yes, Garçon, would you kindly escort this filthy thing out of my personal space?" Her look of disgust radiated throughout the room and required no pointing out. "As you wish, milady. Please continue to partake of our services." Strapping on a glove, the waiter grabs the Eevee by the scruff and calmly walks out of the room. "Heavens... I hope something like that never happens to you, Vix!" She gently patted her own Eevee in her arms, pampered and dressed in small accessories. Vix looked up at her owner with curiosity.

Outside the dining room, the previously mentioned waiter walked down what seemed like endless amounts of hallways until coming to a large metal door. Grabbing a key ring filled with keys from his pocket, he selected one and unlocked the metal door. It opened with an audible squeal, the room inside having only the illumination of the hallway lighting. In just that moment there were many sounds coming from the room now, and the waiter turned the lights on. All sorts of Pokémon were in cages, bindings, and other tools to imprison and pacify them. The Eevee looked around at the hopeless, the angry, and the calm that have come to terms with the situation. He knew what was coming, but didn't have the strength to struggle, he was too much in need of food. Silently and professionally, the waiter walked to the center of the room and turned to his left. He kneeled down and unlocked a small metal-barred cage that was against the wall, on the floor. Thrown into the cage and the cage door locked behind him, the Eevee did not bother to look back. All he could do now is rest. The room became dark once again, and the metal door leading outside shut with an audible, deafening sound of hopelessness.

A half hour has passed. During this time, the various owners of the Pokémon brought along on the cruise leave them to mingle on their own whilst they participate in human-only activities. As most Pokémon owned by these people are presented to them as eggs, they know their owners from birth and often take in such common traits as them, the wealthy and socially refined. One of them was different, however. An Eevee named Vix was in a small group consisting of an Absol, Delcatty, and Ninetales. All of them were wearing objects that any commoner, whether human or Pokémon would simply laugh at. They often simply excuse it as a lower-class commonality of a nonchalant upbringing.

Vix was trying her best to stay attentive, as not to be rude. "Yes, that is quite wonderful. I myself, albeit a new face, have already obtained several first place ribbons of my class..." The four Pokémon in this group were owned by the biggest celebrities aboard the cruise ship, and as a result can chat easily of their beauteous accomplishments in the eyes of the envious. The Eevee, Vix, however, has never been interested in all of this. She listens to her owner since she is her caretaker and believes she knows best, but such a mindset has been grating on her nerves as of late. Her dreams of being free may just be within her grasp.

She excused herself from the conversation to find an appetizer, at least that's what they were told. What she was really wanting to do was explore the ship. She's been on many cruises before, but she never was able to go where she wanted. That would change. While a local waiter was bending down to take finished dishes, Vix extricated the keyring he was wearing outside of his pocket, and hid it inside her torso garment. She walked calmly out of the room, and without sparing a glance as she would provoke suspicion.

Vix could go just about anywhere on the ship, now. Where would she start? She remembered the Eevee that was taken away by one of the waiters earlier. She felt sorry for him, as she does for most of the unfortunate. He probably found his way on board following some food stores being carried on, and became stranded. She wondered if he had a family... She decided to try and find out where he went, if he wasn't tossed overboard... Luckily his stench was still traceable in the air, although fading. Starting down the hall and taking a left, she began the long walk to the room of no return.

Along the way she met several people in the halls. Many of them recognized her, Vix having recently won the First Place Prestigious Award of Beauty, Petit Class, twice over. They always stood aside to give her plenty of room to walk, worried that their very presence may ruffle her perfect fur coat. Even once one bystander wanted to take a picture of her, and she didn't mind. These kinds of settings always gave her an uncomfortable feeling, but she always humors them by showing the expression of selfish importance.

After a few more hallways, she reaches the downward stairs that the people on this deck avoid. Looking up at the sign, she reads, "To Lower Class Deck..." Vix remembered that she was told by her peers that the lower classes were rude, selfish, and overall, stupid. Vix has, at times, gone out of her way to look up news articles and various stories about them, however. She's always wanted to try and meet them. They make up most of the world, so they have to mean something, right?

Vix began her descent down the stairs, but remembered for a moment that she was in expensive, fanciful award-winning garb. No one would treat her as she would want to if she went down there looking like this. She might regret it in the future, but this was to save an innocent life. Setting the keys aside, she began to strip off all of her accessories for the first time in her life. Spotting a nearby small waste receptacle, she walks over, holds her belongings above it for a moment, hesitating. However, ultimately, she looks away and lets go of her beautiful things. Last but not least, she rubs her paws over herself diligently to muss her perfect fur. She looks upon herself but thinks it's not quite enough. Hesitating once again, she brings herself to roll on the carpet floor, wiggling every which way long enough to make her satisfied. Vix felt the strange sensational mixture of anxiety and excitement as she slowly walked down the steps to the lower deck, with the key ring held in her mouth.

Coming to a stop at the very last step, Vix noticed that there were many more people walking about. It makes sense, really. There are more of them, after all. Bustling around, minding their own business, she does recognize some niceties that were ignored. Hopping off the last step, she walks into the hallway, looking around, dodging the large and unyielding steps of the humans. They would pay no attention to such a ragged-looking and ordinary Eevee. Remembering what she was curious about, she sniffs around for the faint scent of the impoverished Eevee from before.

Vix walked down a few more hallways, ignoring the temptation of curiosity as she continuously reminds herself that someone is in need of help. She did, however, partake of the kindness of one individual that offered her a small piece of steak. Never having tried it before, she enjoyed its dry yet juicy, chewy taste. She will remember that kind of meat for the rest of her life. Once again resisting the enormous temptation put before her thanks to all the years of doing so, she continued down several more hallways, hoping that in the future that she will be able to taste it again.

Following the scent more, she realized that she was wandering into a restricted area. Eluding the notice of several waiters and janitors, she reaches the end of the scent at an ominous metal door around a corner. Dropping the keys and looking at them again, there were five keys to use. She didn't want to waste time, so she played it smart. Hiding behind a nearby open doorway at an angle where she could see a key being used on the door, she waited for what seemed like an eternity until she saw someone stop in front of the metal door. There was a Smeargle handcuffed, muzzled, and leashed, being dragged around by a human. How barbaric, she thought. Vix made sure to take a good look at the key used. When the door opened, she heard the cries of many other Pokémon, those of pleading, threats, and hunger. For a moment she stepped out of the doorway, but she was smarter than that. The human would be back outside and going on with his routine, as assumed.

After waiting for a few more minutes, and checking down the hallway around the corner, she deemed it safe. She dropped the keys and recognized the key that was used before, one with a solid black rubber marking. An organization as sophisticated as a crew of a ship would surely organize all of their keys in the same way. She looked up at the thick doorknob, knowing that the height of the doorknob was around twice her own. Thinking to herself, Vix takes the proper key in her paws, and prepares to jump. 'Time to use those accuracy skills you used to win the first place ribbon for the Test of Skill, Petit Class, Vix...' Holding the key outward from her chest turned in the proper direction so it would fit, she jumps straight upward, and during the time it seemed like she was floating, she thrust the key straight into the doorknob and turned in such a swift motion. Who would have thought that such an ability could have use in the real world?

Jumping up again onto the doorknob, she puts forth all her tiny strength and weight into turning the doorknob, then holding it and pushing the door inward. After a couple minutes, it finally opened slightly enough to push the door open. She felt many eyes upon her in the darkness. Looking on the wall for a light switch, she jumps and flips it.

Frozen in horror, she looks on at all of the Pokémon around her. Cages, constraints, anything to keep them from using their abilities to escape. Many of them perked up at the sight of seeing a Pokémon coming out of the hallway, hoping to finally find their escape. Vix, having gotten the attention of everyone in the room, looks around at all of the sad faces. Then she starts thinking. After a moment, she calls attention to herself.

"Everyone! I am deeply moved by your predicament, and I assure you I will assist you in any way I can!" Many of them smiled and cheered her on, and some with merely a look of surprise with how well such a small Eevee could speak. She notices a Machop in one of the corners, roped up tight with arms behind its back and legs tied together. She runs over to the Machop and begins to bite at the ropes, first at the legs, then the Machop turns around so she could reach the arms. "Thank you so much!" He stood up and stretched and flexed his muscles. Vix spoke again. "Could you take the keys and set everyone free? I believe you will be able to do so with the most haste, as you have thumbs." Once again, surprise towards her speech. "Yeah...I'll do it!" He quickly took the key out of the doorknob, and closed the door as not to arouse suspicion.

When the Machop came to a small cage on the floor with a brown blob in it, Vix realized it was the Eevee from before. He looked completely helpless laying there, and with a closer look compared to last time, severely malnourished. As the Machop unlocked the cage, Vix began to say, "It's because of him...that I'm here now. I had seen him earlier in the day, begging for the smallest scrap of food. He was taken away, and I followed his scent here." Many of the Pokémon around felt instant gratitude towards the poor Eevee that seemed to not want to exit his cage, but merely lie there. Vix felt even more sorry for him up close. "I know that everyone wants to be free... However, I am sure that no one will be if you leave him be..." A Kirlia in the room spoke up after an uncomfortable silence. "I'll grab some food and drink for him."

After a few minutes, the Kirlia returned, stunning everyone with her quickness. "I know, surprised? I'm well trained in espionage, you know!" Carrying a small plate of meat and choice fruit, she placed it on the ground for the hungered Eevee, now out of his cage. Smelling the delicious food perked him up, and he immediately walked over to begin eating vigorously. After swallowing once, he said "Thank you..." to anyone that stayed behind to care for him. When he was done eating and licking the last tastes from the plate, he looked over at Vix. "And thank you even more, for being so kind... If it wasn't for your kind heart, all of us never would have escaped. And I would have probably starved to death..." Vix sighed in relief, and spoke. "Come, now... I will take care of you."

Later, in the Poké-Play area of the lower class deck, Vix and her newest friend play around as any average young Pokémon out there. "Oh, I apologize for my lack of class! My name is Vix, two-time winner of-- Oh, nothing." She stopped, thinking a non-specific and proudless introduction is what the lower class does. He shrugged it off and responded. "My name's Laconium, the honor is justly mine." He smiled. "There's no need to be shy. At first I thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me, but after hearing your name, it's definitely affirmed that you are the up-and-coming Beautiful Vix, first place winner of various pageants and competitions..." Vix found herself blushing at his comment. She thought to herself. When was the last time she blushed?

Laconium spoke again. "You camoflauged yourself well, at least by sight. However, I can definitely smell, or not smell, the usual odor of an Eevee." Vix forgot that she was perfumed often, and responded. "Yes, you are right... I suppose I am simply far too accustomed to my own applied scents." He chuckled. "That's another tell; the way you speak, it's way too sophisticated. Anyone that bothers to look closer could spot you a mile away!" She felt herself warm in the face again. "Oh... I apologize." He shook his head and smiled. "It's not as if you want to be a working-class citizen, don't worry about it. Unless that's the truth?" She looked away in thought. Maybe she did want to be a Combee, rather than a Vespiquen. "Perhaps..." Once again, he spoke so confidently. "Well then, stick close to me, and I'll show you how it all works!" She smiled serenely and moved closer to him. He backed up a little, but stopped when she gave him a little kiss on the nose. "Er, I... Uh..." Another thing she recognizes of the lower classes, not enough straightforwardness. She was feeling attracted to him, so what else would she do?

The two walked towards the buffet table of the play area. Taking small take-home bags and stuffing them full of various food items, including fruits, block candy, and dried meat, the two new-found friends walk side-by-side out of the play area and out to the fresh air of the outside, the sky becoming a deep red-orange. Vix and Laconium will remember this fateful day for the rest of their lives...

---

Espy was laying on her bed, deep in thought, while Umby came into their cave with the fruit dinner for the day, and set it down in the usual place. The sky outside was turning a deep red-orange. She rolled over on her side and looked at Umby. "What're you thinking about, Espy?" She smiled. "Oh, nothing, just in how we met... Laconium." He couldn't help but smirk at the sound of that name. Umby knew that he left behind everything for a reason, but before then, times were bliss. He walked over to Espy, and she gave him a kiss on the nose.


End file.
